Cadets
by Pengping
Summary: G1. The war on Earth progresses as normal, Autobots against Decepticons with neither side gaining a definitive victory. Into the mix, Starscream gains three new Seeker cadets from Cybertron. He has his doubts about their skill, but they prove themselves. He thinks they're his rivals, but they're not. They're not even Decepticons. They are far more then anyone could have imagined.
1. Younglings

"Wingstar, Amethyst, and Darksky," Starscream muttered to himself as he read the names of the new Seeker wing in route to Earth. They were newbies, fresh out of the Academy, and this was going to be their first field deployment.

Normally, cadets were the last thing Starscream wanted in the fight against the Autobots, but the record of these was already impressive. They were the top of their class in everything and the leader of their wing – Wingstar – was the number one Seeker of the graduating class.

Nightwing, the Seeker in charge of the Air Warrior Academy back on Cybertron, had made note to Starscream that they were younger than usual. He assumed Nightwing meant they had less experience.

Starscream turned off the datapad and put it in one of his subspace pockets for safekeeping. They had potential, he would admit that. Nightwing had told him that not only were they top of their class, but this wing had been able to finish up their usual studies early enough to take extra classes. Their class had been in melee combat. That perplexed Starscream but he supposed he understood why.

The Seekers official title was 'Air Warriors.' They specialized in aerial dogfights, strafing and bombing, lightning strikes behind enemy lines, reconnaissance, and of course air superiority. These fields were stressed enough that Seekers rarely learned some of the grounders techniques of melee combat.

It was common knowledge if you shot down a Seeker and managed to catch them on the ground, you had them beat. By striving to perfect the battles in the air, battle on the ground was left out of training. The Seekers had also striped away some of their armor to increase their airspeed and maneuverability.

In order to counter that weakness, these three had taken extra training. All three had energy swords and were supposedly very good with them. Wingstar especially was a natural, and could already hold his own against the instructor. This was why these three had been transferred here besides the need to gain experience. There were a few Decepticons here who used energy swords, like Blitzwing and Motormaster.

Most Transformers had given up on swords and other old melee techniques in favor of long-range blasters. Starscream knew that a good enough bladeuser could not just slice through the bullets of an enemy, but kill them as Transformers didn't know how to cope with close-combat anymore.

Starscream checked his chronometer and realized that the newbies were about to arrive. Their record was intriguing enough that he intended to be present when they flew in. The Air Commander of the Seekers was not easy to impress, but if these three could do as their records suggested then he might be. At the very least, they stood a chance of livening up the battlefield.

Miracle upon miracle, Megatron wasn't present to bother him in the entry bay. Skywarp was there though, stuck with monitor duty for one of his ridiculous pranks. He glanced Starscream's way briefly when he walked in, but didn't bother to acknowledge his wingmate.

Starscream didn't mind. He heard Skywarp acknowledge the trio's arrival over the communicator and clear them for landing. These were new procedures. In the past any flyer that approached was instantly waved in, but the Autobots had the Aerialbots now.

After a minute more, the docking tower was raised above the waves and the new wing flew in. Starscream watched as the lift from the docking tower was lowered and got his first look at the new cadets. Something struck him as off, but he couldn't place it.

Like most Decepticons, their color schemes were dark and plain instead of the gaudy neon explosion that most Autobots wore. The dark colors not only looked better, it allowed them to blend into the shadowy corners of the Decepticon's base. Starscream was able to guess their identities by the color schemes.

The one on the right was colored a dark purple-black with no secondary color. That would be Amethyst, the aerial ace of the trio. Nightwing had warned him that Amethyst was not only a cocky and reckless flyer; he was a trouble maker like Skywarp who had a penchant for ignoring regulations.

The one on the left had a nice dark green color scheme with a dark gold for his secondary color. It was regulation that all Decepticons had red optics – if theirs were not then they were surgically changed. A few got around this rule by wearing red visors. This one had red eyes that were quite a few shades darker than the normal crimson and there was something calculating about them. That could only be Darksky, the wing medic.

That left the one in the middle to be Wingstar, the wingleader. His colors were a soft sapphire with pale blue highlights and a few splashes of white – tri-colored like Starscream himself. Although there was an almost gentle air about Wingstar, it was a powerful one that subtly drew the optic. This was not a Decepticon that would always be shouting or would need to shout to get attention. This was a natural leader – and possibly a future rival to Starscream.

Starscream found himself almost coming to attention for Wingstar and he chuckled internally at his reaction. This Seeker certainly had an effect. All three of them wore only the normal pair of Seeker rifles mounted onto their shoulders. Their swords were out of sight and the stripe on their wings that marked their rank was a single white one of a new graduate.

Darksky was the first to notice Starscream standing there. He recognized the main crimson and white secondary stripes of Starscream's wings as the rank of an Air Commander. It was Starscream who the three approached. Wingstar led and the other two followed half a step behind and to either side of him.

As they walked forward, Starscream realized what had been bothering him at the same time Skywarp did. Skywarp smirked and leaned forward in the control panel, setting his head in his hand. Oh Primus, this was going to be interesting. These new Seekers were over a full head shorter than Starscream. They weren't in their adult frame.

"Wingstar reporting in sir," the one in front announced. "These are my wingmates, Amethyst and Darksky."

Starscream had guessed their identities correctly, but he overlooked that in frustration. "I do not know what Nightwing is thinking, sending me sparklings."

Amethyst tensed and snapped, "We're not sparklings." He added a belated "sir."

Skywarp liked that cadet.

Most Transformers had two frames throughout their life. First, they had their sparkling form which was about the size of a human. They would have this frame until their spark matured enough to support their final, fully grown adult frame. The time between these two frames was their "childhood" of sorts.

Seekers were different. Because Seeker younglings had to adapt to flying they had a third youngling form in between the two others. These children were still in their youngling frame – the Cybertronian equivalent of a teenager – and not their adult frame.

"You don't have your adult frame," Starscream snapped back, disliking Amethyst just as Nightwing had warned he would. "You're still in your youngling frame. Considering that Cybertron has supplies to upgrade you, the reason you haven't been is because your spark is yet too young yet to support the adult frame. Again, younglings."

Wingstar answered before Amethyst. "You are correct sir. We finished training for those our age early so we were moved to adult classes. Nightwing expected us to wash out but we kept up with the adults." He held out a hand with a datapad. "These are our transfer orders. We finished top of the adult class and Nightwing didn't see a reason why not to graduate us."

"You younglings graduated top of the adult class?" Skywarp asked incredulously. If those little ones were this good as younglings he couldn't imagine their skill once they were in their sturdier, faster adult frame.

Wingstar nodded at him as Starscream took the datapad and looked over their profiles. The orders were legitimate. It was possible that this group of younglings had switched places with the correct wing and were simply lying, but that seemed unlikely.

"This seems real," Starscream muttered. He overlooked the younglings again.

Skywarp glanced Starscream's way and then back at the cadets. The trouble maker stood and walked over to them. Starscream watched him, but looked down at the profiles and decided to ignore what was going to happen.

"I don't know how you managed to fake the orders but I'll say I'm impressed," Skywarp told them. "One of you must be quite the hacker."

"We didn't fake them," Wingstar vowed. "Air Commander?"

Starscream looked up at mention of his title.

"Our squadron is trained in combiner combat," Wingstar said. "Nightwing believes we have the skill level to take out the Aerialbot team and prevent them from forming into Superion."

That was the other reason for their transferal here. "I'm aware of that," Starscream admitted, "but the battlefield is very different than your training grounds."

"That is why Nightwing sent us here when you asked for more Seekers. Studies have taken us as far as they can. We need front-line experience now. Earth is a battle zone and we can gain that experience here."

Starscream was impressed by how calm and collected Wingstar was staying. Amethyst looked ready to snap out an argument. Darksky was staying quiet and simply observing. It was his gaze that unsettled Starscream the most.

Skywarp was shaking his head. "I don't care what your rank is, you need to be sent back to Cybertron."

"All right," Starscream interrupted, voice thoughtful. "We're planning on raiding a military base for energon soon. The Aerialbots are stationed nearby and will undoubtedly come in response. If you truly think you can handle them, then you distract them while we get the energon. If you manage to hold them off without any of you getting shot down until we pull out, I'll consider your rank to be well earned. If you do not, I'm going to recommend you return to the Academy and complete the class with your original classmates."

"The other younglings! Hey you, it wasn't easy graduating this early!" Amethyst shouted at him.

Wingstar stepped in front of him, "will you shut up?" He growled.

"But he!"

"He's just like the others in the adult class, we'll prove him wrong just like we did them," Wingstar promised. He glanced back over at Starscream. "Deal."

Starscream nodded. He kept the datapad Wingstar had given him. "You're free to move around the base except the restricted section and the energon bays. The attack will happen tomorrow."

"Fine," Wingstar said. He saluted along with Darksky – Amethyst doing so a second later.

"Dismissed," Starscream said.

They left, going through the main doors that led into the crashed starship.

Skywarp snorted. "Why did you make that bet with them?"

"Because there's no way they can win it," Starscream replied in a simple tone as if he was talking to a sparkling. "Watch your screens, monitor boy," he warned Skywarp.

Skywarp glared.

Starscream smiled, baring his Decepticon fangs.

* * *

 **For those of you that read some of my other stories, you're probably going to say that i have way too many different story genres. I do, but i have a habit of making stories. You would also know that I tend to like the bad guys so of course i like the Decepticons. I personally like the Seekers the best.**

 **This takes place in the G1 cartoon universe and it takes place between the second and third seasons when it's still Megatron vs Optimus Prime.**


	2. First Blood

Starscream flew easily through the sky. He enjoyed being outside. Seekers were creatures of the air, and in general were claustrophobic. They felt uneasy if they couldn't see the sky or have room to fly. In that regard, being stationed a starship at the bottom of the ocean was murderous to Seeker moral.

Word of Starscream's bet had spread to everyone but Megatron. Flying with him were his wingmates, an attack squad, and the new recruits.

 _*Relax Amethyst*_ Darksky warned his friend. _*Before Soundwave detects how high stung you are.*_

 _*His telepathy is a lot better trained then yours so I bet he already has*_ Amethyst snapped right back. _*And part of it is excitement. We finally get to prove ourselves in battle!*_

 _*Shush both of*_ Wingstar scolded _*we're reaching the attack coordinates now.*_

They quieted.

 _*All right,*_ Wingstar briefed, * _remember_ , _we break off and stay high while the rest of the team collects energon. Our target's the Aerialbots. Everyone else will handle any Autobots on the ground.*_

 _*Wingstar, stop with the echo. We heard the debriefing the first time*_ Darksky reminded gently. _*Relax, we all know how to fight._

 _*Yeah*_ Amethyst chimed in. _*That's why we graduated so early.*_

Starscream dipped his wing down and the Decepticons descended on the oil refinery.

Wingstar had been too busy talking and he'd missed Starscream's command! That was not the best way to start a mission. The three of them hung in the clouds as the attack squad transformed and opened fire. Humans were not a threat, but Wingstar kept his scanners tuned for what was.

Darksky's telepathy alerted him when they came. "Starscream, there are Autobots inbound. I count six. According to the profiles, they're Ironhide, Mirage, Skids, Wheeljack, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe."

"Understood," Starscream called back.

"I got em on scanners!" One of the other other Seekers called. Some of them took to the sky while Starscream and a group of the others began collecting the energon cubes and filling them up.

Amethyst attempted to dive down as a the Autobots and Decepticons clashed, but Darksky sensed the tactic and winged right in front of his wingmate's nosecone. His friend had to transform to keep from a devastating mid-air collision.

"Hey! Out o' the way Darksky!" Amethyst waved a hand sharply.

"No," Darksky replied in his usual emotionless demeanor. "Our orders are to defeat their combiner, not engage the grounders."

Amethyst glanced at the ground combat. His rich violet color scheme glowed in the early morning light, reflecting his crimson optics. He looked frustrated.

"Stop arguing," Wingstar told them as he kicked in the afterburners and started to gain altitude. "There are five flyers coming in with Autobot signals."

"Aerialbots," Amethyst whispered. He dropped altitude so he had space to transform and then flew up after Wingstar, Darksky on his wing. They were going to drop out of the sky on them. Amethyst was the ace of the group so he would take out the target – the one called Silverbolt.

When the Aerialbots transformed, they combined together into the four limbs and one was the chest. The one that became Superion's chest was Silverbolt. If he was taken out, then the other Aerialbots had no way to merge. Silverbolt was also the leader of the team and scared of heights.

"Amethyst," Wingstar started.

"I got Silverbolt," Amethyst interrupted. He spun in a tight upwards spiral to prepare.

Amethyst's fighting style was low-altitude dogfighting. He was never more comfortable then skimming less than a meter above the ground and he loved two things: getting his opponents to crash and dive bombing.

While Amethyst's wingmates hung at a lower altitude ready to take on the rest of the Aerialbots, Amethyst locked onto Silverbolt. He knew that Silverbolt had radar that could detect him, but he had a way around that.

Silverbolt was now in range. Amethyst had practiced this unorthodox maneuver hundreds of times to get it right, but this was his first time trying it in battle. Would it work? Well, here went nothing.

Amethyst was flying straight up and now cut his engines. His momentum carried him a little bit further up before gravity took over. It pulled him down and he flipped over so his nosecone was facing the ground. Then he started falling.

The G-Force from a move like that was enormous and it took effort for Amethyst to keep from going into a death spiral. He subtly adjusted his vertical and horizontal stabilizers and the flaps on his wings to adjust the airflow around him. Dropping like a stone like this at the right angle and degree from the ground and the Autobot rendered him invisible to radar.

A standard Decepticon Seeker had top speeds between Mach 2.2 to 2.6 with a small handful capable of pushing 2.7. Starscream was currently the fastest one at 2.8. Because Amethyst did not have his adult frame, he and his wing were only able to fly around speeds of Mach 2. This move altered the airflow around him and increased his speed to over Mach 4, turning Amethyst into nothing more than a violet streak shooting downwards.

Normally an adult frame would have warped and collapsed inward from the G-Force let alone a youngling's, but Amethyst remained nearly untouched. A bit of his left wing on the leading edge collapsed inward not unlike crushing a soda can or as if a hand had suddenly crunched it, but it was minor and did not affect his flight path.

Starscream happened to catch sight of Amethyst's plunge as he started shooting at Ironhide. He stared in surprise at the youngling. That technique… that is… that is – Edgeflight! Where did he learn that? That's a forbidden technique!

Ironhide took advantage of Starscream's diverted attention and managed to land a shot with his blaster on one of the Air Commander's wings. That jerked Starscream back to the reality of battle.

Slingshot happened to look up and see Amethyst. He barely managed a syllable before Amethyst hit Silverbolt. Amethyst couldn't transform with so much G-Force on him and so slammed into Silverbolt's wing, sending the Aerialbot plummeting down.

Amethyst smirked in triumph at the victorious move as Silverbolt was unable to control his descent and slipped into a death spiral. He pulled out of the dive with a quick 90degree snapturn to level out.

"Silverbolt!" Slingshot shouted. Laserbolts suddenly rained down from the sky and one of them clipped his wing.

"Ambush!" Airaid called out, pulling up to avoid more fire. The four remaining Aerialbots scattered to avoid getting shot down.

The warring Transformers on the ground looked up as Silverbolt tried to pull out of the dive. Instead of plummeting nose first into the ground, his belly skimmed across the ground and gouged a path in the soil. He finally skidded to a stop.

Starscream stared at the prone form of the Aerialbot and then glanced up to see two of the younglings chasing around the other four Aerialbots.

Amethyst transformed and landed near Silverbolt. He raised one of his rifles to shoot a killing blow and end Superion. Cliffjumper pulled out one of his ridiculously large rifles out of nowhere and shot him. The shot threw him back and Amethyst's rifle shot high and wild as he crashed onto his back. His head was spinning.

Starscream glanced over at Amethyst and then up in the air. It seemed that the Aerialbots were figuring out that they outnumbered their Wingstar and Darksky two-to-one, and were beginning to fight back. He sighed. It appeared he was going to have to save the younglings after all. What a surprise.

He turned and shot Cliffjumper before the Autobot could finish of Amethyst. "Thundercracker, Skywarp, go save the younglings," he radioed his wingmates.

Skywarp thought about flying up there, but had a better idea. He decided to use some of his tricks to his advantage and teleported over to one of the Aerialbots. The closest one was that irritating Slingshot. He materialized from his transport and grabbed Slingshot's wings, then teleported down to ground level.

While Skywarp could fold space and travel through that fold without trouble, others could not. Although the teleport did not knock Slingshot out, the distortion dulled Slingshot's reactions as if he was drunk and he ran into the ground. He cartwheeled nosecone over tailfins and nearly took out an Autobot before he stopped.

Thundercracker used the more direct approach of opening fire on Air Raid, chasing him. That left Fireflight and Skydive, and the two Decepticon cadets realized that they could handle one on one.

Amethyst took a half-step back in preparation to take off and help his wing finish off the Aerialbots when someone blindsided and shot him again. It sent him stumbling back, but luckily didn't damage him badly. Another shot came out midair and Amethyst sidestepped that one.

He tried to think clearly. It wasn't easy. The rush of battle, the excitement of combat, the chance to prove yourself to your friends, it was all he thought about. Amethyst left strategy up to his Wingleader and psychic wingmate. One of the disadvantages of Berserker programming was the inability to think clearly in battle.

What were the names that Darksky had listed off at the start of battle? Another shot appeared out of thin air, and that one clocked Amethyst right in the shoulder. Mirage! The Autobot that could turn invisible, that was it. Amethyst looked down for footprints that would give away his location, but they were standing on cement and asphalt.

 _*Darksky! I've got an invisible gremlin over here.*_ Amethyst called out telepathically to his wingmate. _*Can you feel where his mind is and give me a target?*_

Darksky didn't respond, but a moment later a small green F-15 flew down and shot at thin air. A blue and white Autobot materialized and crashed to the ground.

Amethyst smiled and raised his rifle. Mirage looked up and Cliffjumper fired. Darksky fired at the same time and the two shots connected and canceled each other out with a small pulse of kinetic energy.

"Amethyst! Switch out!" Wingstar ordered as he transformed and landed in front of his wingmate.

Amethyst wasn't about to argue and transformed and took off at last. He worked best in the sky. Darksky opened fire and forced the Autobots near Wingstar to back off. Wingstar shot at the retreating form of Mirage several times and then suddenly whipped around to sidestep a blaster shot.

Sunstreaker was surprised that the little 'Con had been quick enough to dodge him and shot again. Wingstar dodged that one to and stepped up close to the attacking Autobot. He stepped too close for Sunstreaker to use his blaster and punched him in the faceplate sharply as he twisted Sunstreaker's hand down.

Wingstar slipped Sunstreaker's blaster out of his hand and into his own. Sunstreaker reeled from the blow and looked back at his opponent just in time to see Wingstar raise the blaster to his sparkchamber. The range was almost point blank when Wingstar pulled the trigger and Sunstreaker kept his blasters on a high setting.

Sideswipe doubled over in shock as he felt pain tear his spark apart. Wheeljack glanced over at him as Sideswipe sank to one knee. He felt pain. "Sun-streaker," he whispered. Something bad had happened to Sunstreaker.

He looked up in horror when he saw a Seeker standing over the unmoving body of his twin brother. "No!" Sideswipe shouted. He shoved past Wheeljack and ran at his brother and the Seeker.

He wasn't thinking clearly. Instead of drawing his own blaster, he found his sword in his hand and he swung. There was a clang as it hit another sword. The Seeker had a blade to, and he held it surely.

"That's right," the Seeker said. "You're the Lamborghini twins. Are you Sideswipe or Sunstreaker?"

The curious, inquisitive tone of the Seeker made Sideswipe snap and he unleashed a fury of blows. He thought the Seeker would be defeated, but his defense held. It was shocking. Sideswipe had never seen a Decepticon use a sword with any proficiency, yet be able to match him.

"I bet you're Sideswipe," the Seeker said. "That yellow one is probably Sunstreaker. That would make sense. You can feel him, can't you? You've got a bond with your twin. Can you feel his pain? I'm Wingstar by the way."

Sideswipe tried another few blows.

Wingstar dodged around behind him and sliced Sideswipe's jetpack. Sideswipe whirled to face him and Wingstar smiled.

Sideswipe didn't understand that until he heard a hissing noise and craned his head back. With a curse, he loosened the jetpack and tossed it away from him. It exploded, and Sideswipe cringed at the brightness.

Wingstar took advantage of the distraction and jumped at him, knocking Sideswipe's sword from his hand to the ground. He kicked the Autobot's shin and slammed the pommel of his sword on the Autobot's face, then whipped the blade around and sliced the Autobot insignia on Sideswipe's chest.

Sideswipe crashed to the ground.

Wingstar had learned the Decepticon's tactic that playing fair was not always the best thing to do. Sometimes, you had to play to win. Wingstar wanted to win. Sideswipe pushed himself up, partially sitting.

"Twins can feel each other's pain," Wingstar said as he raised the blade for a killing blow. "That yellow one isn't dead yet, so I wonder if he'll feel you die."

Skids shot at Wingstar in a desperate move to stop him. Wingstar twisted his blade and deflected the shot harmlessly.

Skids hesitated with his next shot. The 'Con cut through the plasma shot? How?

"That's one problem with you Autobots," Wingstar sighed as he kicked Sideswipe down to the ground. "There's too many of you." He hooked Sideswipe's blade on his foot and tossed it up into the air to catch it with his free hand. "Let me fix that."

Skids didn't have a chance to react as Wingstar threw the blade. It flew through the air and embedded itself through the Autobot symbol on his chest. Sideswipe looked in shock as Skids dropped his blaster and collapsed.

The rest of the battle had progressed in a surprising way. Normally, the Autobots inevitably ran off the Decepticons and they were forced to flee. This time however, the early decimation of the Aerialbots and the new wing's attack had turned the tide. Oddly enough, the Decepticons weren't losing.

"Pull back," Starscream called out. "We've got all the energon we need."

That was another unique thing. Usually, the Decepticons had to retreat before they were defeated, but this time they were leaving because they had all the energon they needed.

Wingstar looked back down at Sideswipe. "Here's something you might find interesting Autobot, swinging around your sword at anything that moves does not make you a swordsman. It makes you an idiot waving a sword around."

He turned and pushed off the ground. Once he had enough air speed, he slipped his sword into subspace and transformed to rejoin his wingmates and the rest of the attack group. Wingstar fell back so he and Darksky were flying on either side of Amethyst.

 _*Are you okay?*_ Darksky asked.

 _*I'll be fine*_ Amethyst mumbled. _*Injuries come from battle.*_

 _*And your wing that got crumbled by your Edgeflight?*_ Darksky asked dryly.

 _*Hey*_ Amethyst snapped, _*I'm still flying, alright. I'll be fine until I get back to base. Nice shot with the invisible gremlin.*_ He added the last statement as more of an afterthought.

 _*Turning invisible to someone's eyes only works if that Cybertronian is using their eyes*_ Darksky replied.

 _*Once, just once can you make sense?*_ Amethyst grumbled.

 _*He's fine*_ Wingstar chimed in.

Darksky snorted, _*indeed.*_

 _*Hey! What does that mean?*_ Amethyst demanded.

 _*What about you, swordmaster?*_ Darksky tossed over to Wingstar. _*Any battle scars?*_

 _*Nope*_ Wingstar promised. _*I think I got at least one kill there at the end. For sure I have a new nemesis. Sideswat or something.*_

 _*Sideswipe*_ Darksky corrected.

 _*Whatever*_ Wingstar would have rolled his eyes if he had been human. _*He's not a threat.*_

Starscream checked his scanners to make sure that the new wing was still flying. For younglings, they had done alright. He would admit that to himself. It looked as if they might have even got a kill in.

Well, at least this would cheer Megatron up. The Almighty Commander was working on his latest superweapon of the week and wasn't having much luck with it. Starscream knew that the better mood Megatron was in, the easier he went on _him_.

* * *

 **When you think about it the Decepticons usually are forced to retreat, but this time they might have been able to make the _Autobots_ retreat and gave them a nice thrashing while they were at it. This was their first battle and all things considered they did pretty good. Mirage's invisibility is only effective against sight, but Darksky can pinpoint his location fine by sensing where his mind is. **

**More about Edgeflight will be forthcoming.**


	3. Flight on the Edge

The Autobot's base was in a volcano. Although it generally was not active, it did still have a hole in the top that the Autobots had yet to put a cover on it. Laserbeak didn't understand why the Autobots hadn't, but didn't complain as he flew down through it. Honestly, they didn't even have a security grid and was easily able to enter their base without setting off any alarms. After a bit of quiet flight, he found the medbay.

Ratchet, Perceptor, and Wheeljack were in surgical working desperately to try and save the lives of Silverbolt and Slingshot. If even one died, Superion would be lost forever. Mirage was over laying out on one of the tables, injured but stable. Skyfire was trying to stabilize Sunstreaker while Sideswipe hovered nearby.

Cliffjumper was sitting there with his arms crossed, frustrated. The doors to the medbay opened and in walked Optimus Prime. He took one look around at the injured Autobots and Ironhide walked over to him. Prime's gaze stopped on Skids's body.

"What happened?" Prime asked quietly.

"Some Decepticons attacked a military base," Ironhide clenched his blaster. "It was just Starscream and a bunch of his goons. The Aerialbots were nearby and they reinforced us. We thought that with all of us working together that we wouldn't have any trouble."

"Only we did," Cliffjumper snapped. "There were a bunch of newbie seekers. Some green one could tell where Mirage was even when he was invisible. That's why he's near dead."

Prime looked sorrowfully at Skid's body. They hadn't lost an Autobot before in their battles for Earth. This was horrible. "What about Sunstreaker?"

Ironhide winced, and Sideswipe looked up to Optimus.

"What happened?" Sideswipe demanded. "What happened? I'll tell you what happened. Wingstar used my sword to kill Skids right after he got done nearly killing my brother with his own blaster!" His voice ended in a shout.

"Wingstar?" Optimus asked.

"The Seeker that hurt Sunstreaker!" Sideswipe waved his hands. "He told me what his name was. I've never seen a filthy 'Con who could use a sword before, and he beat me right after he stole Sunny's blaster from his hand and shot him!"

"Stop shouting Sideswipe," Skyfire said patiently. "You're injured to. Sunstreaker will be alright, The Seeker – Wingstar was it? – missed Sunstreaker's sparkchamber. I just need to stabilize him."

"You don't seem to be bothered that those 'Cons tore apart my brother," Sideswipe accused.

Skyfire sighed. He was used to this, more used then he should be. His past association with Starscream would never leave him, no matter how much he helped the Autobots. "Sit down before you hurt yourself."

Sideswipe shook his head and reached for where his sword had once been. "You know what; I don't even have my sword because it's still covered in Skid's blood. I've never had my blade covered in Autobot blood before..."

He looked down to the ground, features darkened by hate, anger, and grief.

"Wingstar destroyed my jetpack to!" Sideswipe continued loudly and suddenly. "And another of the three tore apart Silverbolt."

"One of his wing?" Skyfire asked innocently.

"One of his…?" Sideswipe gave him a blank look.

"His wing," Skyfire repeated. "A wing is a group of three Seekers who typically fight together. I'm guessing Wingstar's the leader."

"Well I don't know about Decepticon stuff," Sideswipe threw his hands up.

"It's not Decepticon stuff," Skyfire sighed. This happened every time he offered his knowledge up to help the Autobots without fail. "It's just basic Seeker knowledge."

"Whatever Seeker," Sideswipe growled.

Skyfire stopped his work on Sunstreaker in exasperation and looked Sideswipe's way. "Sunstreaker's injuries are not life-threatening, but if I do not finish stabilizing him then he may die. If you wish for me to stop then I will."

Sideswipe stopped glaring and turned away with a huff. Skyfire shook his head and looked back to his work with Sunstreaker.

Cliffjumper and Ironhide stared at him. Sideswipe was always a hotheaded Autobot but this was snappy – even for him.

"What about the Aerialbots?" Prime repeated. He decided to just ignore Sideswipe for now.

"The teleporter took out Slingshot," Cliffjumper replied nonchalantly, "Sent him cartwheeling down the battlefield."

Cliffjumper held up one of his large rifles, checking to make sure the scope was fine. Laserbeak sank further into the shadows when the rifle was pointed in his direction, but it was lowered a moment later so it appeared the Autobot had not seen him.

"One of Wingstar's wing dived Silverbolt and sheared his wing clean off. A purple Seeker," Ironhide explained. "He was a real fancy flier, flew straight down at Silverbolt though he didn't go into a death spiral like most would. The air around him was spiraling though. Somehow he pulled out of the dive after he shredded Silverbolt's wing and levelled out about a meter off the ground."

Prime sighed and shook his head. This was bad.

"I managed to deck Starscream while that one was diving," Ironhide shrugged. "He was looking up at him, said Edgeslight or something and he wasn't looking at me."

Skyfire froze with one hand raised above Sunstreaker. "Edgeflight," he whispered.

"That was what he said," Ironhide nodded.

"Oh great," Sideswipe mumbled, "More Decepticon knowhow."

Skyfire slammed the tool in his hand down onto the table beside Sunstreaker, making Sideswipe jump. "It is not Decepticon know how. I know about Edgeflight because I watched it be created by Starscream before the war broke out. Everyone stopped using it because although it does allow you to do things like evade radar it has a 100% casualty rate."

"I never said that it evades radar," Sideswipe snapped, crossing his arms. He paused when Skyfire's words sank in. "Did you just say?"

"100% casualty rate," Skyfire repeated. "The only Seekers that survive using it were those that didn't use it. It was a forbidden technique. All knowledge of it was banned and forgotten. That Seeker you saw couldn't have been using Edgeflight because no one knows how to anymore."

"Didn't Starscream create it?" Prime asked quietly. "Couldn't he teach it?"

"Yes, but he was one of the Seekers who nearly died using it," Skyfire snapped. "He taught it to other Seekers and then they died using it. Starscream would not teach it again. It is the most powerful technique but power has its price. That Seeker couldn't have used Edgeflight because although Starscream's a lot of things, he wouldn't teach to his Seekers again."

Skyfire looked squarely at Sideswipe, and Sideswipe took a step back. "Your brother is stable. He'll be fine until one of the medics can look at him."

Sideswipe had to step back as Skyfire stalked past him. Optimus Prime did not attempt to stop him. Skyfire needed to blow off some steam, and it was best to let him.

"Was anyone else seriously hurt?" Optimus asked. "It was a human military base."

The discussion turned to the more mundane subject of humans, so Laserbeak silently took off and left to return to Decepticon headquarters. Megatron should be most interested in the recording.

* * *

Megatron was interested, and he watched the recorded footage three times before he finally told Soundwave to stop showing it.

"Should I allow the other Decepticons to view this recording, Lord Megatron?" Soundwave asked in his monotone voice.

"Very well," Megatron said. "However, but only upload it to this point. My Decepticons don't need to know about Edgeflight."

The recording was at the part where Ironhide was saying that a purple Seeker had managed to take down Silverbolt without going into a death spiral and then pulled out of it a meter before he hit the ground. It was right before the word Edgeflight was mentioned.

"And get Starscream," Megatron added. "I want to speak to him."

"Yes my lord," Soundwave bowed and left with Laserbeak perched on his shoulder. The spy bird was smugly preening. Soundwave walked from Megatron's place to head to the security office. First, he'd upload the video to Megatron's specifications and then he'd find Starscream.

He walked by the medbay on his way there and right by Starscream who had just entered. Starscream hadn't even noticed Soundwave. The medbay was unusually empty after battle. Normally, it was full of Decepticons injured from an Autobot thrashing but now it was mostly empty. Only Amethyst was in there and he was lounging.

Starscream stalked right over to Amethyst. Amethyst looked over at him and swallowed. Technically speaking, he had gotten shot down. He was worried about the bet Wingstar had made with him before the battle. His Air Commander was not thinking about the bet.

Starscream grabbed Amethyst and dragged him out of bed, hauling him upright.

"Hey!" Amethyst shouted. He gave a hiss of pain as Starscream tightened the hand he had gripped around Amethyst's neck. Amethyst kicked his feet, but he wasn't touching the ground and Starscream was holding him far enough away from his body that Amethyst couldn't reach him.

Starscream slammed Amethyst against the wall of the medbay, knocking Amethyst's weapons off of a table. They clattered to the ground loudly. Shards of Amethyst's wing that had been injured from Edgeflight fell to the ground. Amethyst winced as pain spiked through his system. It felt like shards of his spark had just broken off.

"Do you have _any_ idea what you did?" Starscream demanded as he tightened his grip on Amethyst's neck. It was lucky that Amethyst was not an organic being or he would not have been able to breathe. He slammed the young Seeker against the wall again.

Scrapper and Hook ran into the medbay to see what the racket was and stared at Starscream. "What are you doing you psycho seeker?" Scrapper demanded and ran over to Starscream. He grabbed Starscream's arm and tried to break the Air Commander's grip.

Starscream raised his free arm and coldly shot Scrapper with his null ray. Scrapper stumbled back and Hook caught his teammate. The leader of the Constructicon was out cold from the null ray's effect, but at least it was merely his null ray and not his plasma rifle.

"Where did you learn Edgeflight?" Starscream demanded Amethyst. "Do you have any idea just how dangerous that technique is? It was forbidden for a reason!"

"Let our patient go," Hook demanded as he raised his blaster to Starscream's faceplate.

"Why don't you look at Amethyst's wing?" Starscream stepped to one side so Hook could look at the wing.

The wing damaged by Edgeflight was crumbled along the leading edge like a soda can from the G-Force's where Amethyst had slipped up slightly in his dive. It was not the crumpling that was the damage, it was everything else. Cracks radiated from the crumpling like a set of veins. Some were so small you could barely see them, but others were wide and deep. In fact, there were some cracks where you could see right through the wing to the wall beyond.

Shards of metal from the wing littered the ground. Some were as fine as dust while others were larger chunks. A few fragments of the wing fell to the ground to join what was already there.

"Were you trying to fix the wing?" Starscream asked. "You can't. The only thing you can do with this is replace it and hope that the damage hasn't spread to the rest of his frame."

"We can-" Hook started.

"If you try and fix it the repair will fall apart mid-flight. He'll crash and won't walk away from it. In fact, you'll be lucky if he survives," Starscream snapped. " _Replace it_. I've had enough Seekers using Edgeflight die on my watch. I won't have any more."

Hook stuttered his next reply. He wasn't used to having Starscream concerned about his Seekers and what was Edgeflight?

"Where did you learn it child?" Starscream demanded Amethyst once he turned his attention back to him.

"I was awakened for the first time with all of the information into it in my mainframe," Amethyst admitted.

"And you're creator made you into a Lytling frame?" Starscream asked dryly.

"I don't know," Amethyst replied honestly. "I never met my creator. When I awakened the first time, it was in the ruins of a lab. There were bodies. One of them might have been my creator. I wouldn't know. There was no one to help me, so I took care of myself on the streets."

"Starscream?" Someone said behind him.

Starscream could feel that it was Skywarp. That wasn't what he needed.

"You know why I joined the Decepticons?" Amethyst asked, drawing Starscream's attention back to him. "I wasn't pressed into it like others. It was willing. Growing up on the streets I was always hungry. I figured that if I joined the 'Cons then I could get regular rations of energon. What I don't want is to fail a mission and get thrown out and be hungry again. A torn wing is a small price to pay."

Skywarp looked at the scene around him. What exactly had he missed? He heard footsteps down the hallway and a moment later Wingstar and Darksky came running into sight. Wingstar had his sword in hand. The same sword that had cut a plasma shot in half. Starscream had better hurry up his interrogation.

"Your wing did not get torn," Starscream corrected scornfully. "The molecular structure of it was shattered. Edgeflight warps the space around you irregularly. You're lucky that it merely grazed the edge of your wing. How would you do if it shattered your whole wing? You feel that pain from the injury to your wing? The pain would be so immense that you wouldn't be able to save yourself from crashing nosecone first into the ground. Trust me, I know…"

Amethyst looked at Starscream curiously and the Air Commander abruptly released his hold on his prey. The young Seeker fell to the ground and banged up against the wall. Those small cracks on his wings widened and a very large chunk broke off. When it landed on the ground it shattered like a plane of glass. That happened just in time for his wingmates to walk up besides Skywarp.

The entire gathered group looked at the fragments.

"Like I said," Starscream muttered, "shattering. Turns even the toughest Cybertronian alloys into weak glass. What do you think would happen if the shattering happened to your chest or your sparkchamber? I promise it does happen."

"Starscream," a small voice said.

Starscream expected to see his irritating wingmate and was surprised at the crowd. Hovering in the doorway was also Rumble.

The small blue cassette looked edgy. "Megatron wants to speak with you."

"Of course he does," Starscream sighed.

Wingstar and Darksky ran over to their wingmate on the floor as Starscream walked by them.

Skywarp wisely stepped out of the way. This was weird for Starscream. He had never seen Starscream worked up like this. It wasn't worked up because one of his short-term plans had gone to hell, or because Megatron had gotten up after Starscream had shot him in the back or something like that.

Skywarp looked after Starscream. Starscream was upset because one of his seekers got hurt? As if he was concerned? Nah, not Starscream.

Rumble had stayed at the medbay and looked at the damage to Amethyst's wing, so Starscream walked by himself. That was perfectly fine by him. He calmed down as he walked. The mere idea of someone using Edgeflight again had floored him. No one was so stupid, not even the suicidal zealots.

Okay, there had been a few instances where Starscream had used it but for the entire length of time of the battle on Earth, it was three. He _hated_ using it. Every Seeker that had died using it had died because Starscream had made the technique. As much as he hated it, that was true to.

That brat Amethyst better not be stupid enough to teach it to someone else. Then again, Starscream reflected, it really wasn't his concern. …Yes it was, he had started it. Primus! He was acting as sentimental as an Autobot!

Starscream calmed down again as he approached Megatron's quarters. Whatever Megatron had in mind, Starscream wanted to be clearheaded. He chimed the door and a moment later it opened. As usual, it was rather dim within Megatron's quarters and Starscream entered only when Megatron called out for him to do so.

Starscream's optics adjusted to the darkness after he entered and the door slid close behind him. Megatron mutely waved a hand over to the screen where the recording of Laserbeak's footage was. This felt odd to Starscream, but he did as Megatron wished and watched it.

Seeing the other Autobots terrorize Skyfire didn't even make him blink. That traitor had decided to go with the Autobots, so it was his problem now. It served him right in a way. The video ended after Ironhide reported on how Amethyst had taken down Silverbolt.

Starscream still didn't understand what was going on. He looked up at Megatron expectadly. Megatron obliged him, but not in the way Starscream wanted.

"What is Edgeflight?" Megatron asked.

Starscream leaned back in surprise, banging one of his wings against a wall. Ow. "What?" His question was sharper then he meant and he cringed at the glare it invoked from Megatron.

"That video you just watched is only part of it," Megatron nodded at the screen. "That is what the other Decepticons can see. The rest of the video involves something Skyfire calls Edgeflight."

Skyfire… Oh, now Starscream was really glad that the Autobots were giving him a hard time. "It's a flight technique from before the war," Starscream explained carefully. "It went out of use because it was too dangerous. Seekers who used it died. That's why it was named Edgeflight – those who used it were metaphorically flying on the edge between life and death."

"I don't want a history lesson," Megatron snapped.

Starscream cringed again at the anger that laced Megatron's voice. "I'm afraid I don't know what you want.

Megatron chuckled darkly. "I want many things. I want Optimus Prime's head as a trophy on my wall. I want to rule unchallenged by fools. I want you to stop being a coward."

Starscream didn't seem to take offense at that comment. He was way too used to Megatron saying things like that.

Megatron returned to his previous topic. "From what Skyfire said about it, Edgeflight seems quite useful. Amethyst's feats concur with that."

The bad feeling Starscream had got even worse. "It has its uses and its drawbacks. If Skyfire mentioned it, he'd likely have mentioned that it kills."

"He did, he did," Megatron agreed. Megatron was in truth intrigued by what Skyfire had said about Edgeflight. He had barely heard the word mentioned before, but if it had allowed Amethyst to get around radar then it could prove useful. "He also said that you created it Starscream."

"I did," Starscream said cautiously.

"I looked at your medical records," Megatron said with a bit of excitement. "You've been treated for injuries remarkably similar to Amethyst's. That means that you still know how to sue it and do."

"I don't like to," Starscream said. "It kills and it almost killed me – twice."

"But you know it," Megatron repeated. He was very interested in Edgeflight. Starscream's obvious reluctance only made it more interesting to him. Megatron wasn't that concerned the casualty rates. That had to be an exaggeration. Even if it wasn't, they were still just Seekers. If they could take out some Autobots before they died, then it was worth it to Megatron.

Shockwave could always make some more Seekers like he had made Thrust and his wing. In fact, the Coneheads were made by Shockwave to be superior to the ones with the same frame as Starscream – the true Air Warriors. The Air Warriors such as Starscream or Skywarp were natives to Cybertron and most had been born not made. They had their own ideas and in some cases loyalties. He could always do with a little less of that.

Starscream looked at Megatron warily. "You want me to do something."

"Yes," Megatron smiled. "I want you to teach Edgeflight to all of the Seekers and have them use it in battle."

* * *

 **Sorry about the laspe in updates. I've been prepping for college, driving from Texas to Arizona to get to my college, and getting settled into college. I also have classes. Blah. Now that everything's settled, i should be updating more often but be forewarned, schoolwork first. My updates are probably going to be on Tuesdays now instead of Monday.**

 **Story:**

 **I said i would explain about Edgeflight and here you go! It's a very useful and deadly flight form. It's bad enough that it's actually giving Starscream a temporary conscious, which is impressive. What's he going to do now? He's made his opinion on Edgeflight pretty clear but Megatron's priority is to win the war. He really doesn't care about his own troops. All he wants is to be on his throne with Prime's head on a shelf. Whatever it takes to get there is what he'll do.**

 **More about the distinction between Air Warrior and Conehead later. There is more of a difference then them looking different.**

 **Yes, an Autobot died. This is a war. Soldiers die.**


	4. A History Lesson

Skywarp was on his DataPadd, playing a game the humans called "Need for Speed." It was a neat racing game that he just had to enjoy. He wandered mildly if it was where the Stunticons learned to drive from.

Someone chimed the bell on his door. Skywarp ignored it. He was in the middle of a race. If whoever it was wasn't in such a rush that he could afford to chime then they could wait. The chime sounded again.

Skywarp reached out mentally, but whoever it was wasn't his wingmates, and Megatron wouldn't bother with the chime. There weren't very many Decepticons who would bother to even knock. He supposed he might as well see who it was.

With an exaggerated sigh, Skywarp paused his game and sat up. "Alright you, come in."

The door heard his order and opened. There was no one there. Skywarp simmered. If those cassettes had been ding-dong ditching his room again he would disassemble them! Then someone peered around the corner. It was not a cassette.

"Wingstar?" Skywarp frowned. "Why are you hiding?"

Wingstar shyly stepped into view. "You sounded sort of irritated. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"I was in the middle of a race," Skywarp waved his DataPadd as he set it down.

"Race?" Wingstar asked.

"Yeah," Skywarp held out the DataPadd. "It's a human video game. Fun actually."

"You're playing a human game?" Wingstar frowned. "Why are you doing that?"

"Because it's fun," Skywarp shrugged. "We're on Earth, so we've picked up a few of their things. I doubt you'll find a Decepticon here who has a DataPadd without a few human things on it."

Wingstar gave him a dubious look.

Skywarp mimicked a human shrug and set the Padd down beside him. "What did you want?"

"Hm? Oh!" Wingstar looked away from the Padd. "I know that every base has its unspoken rules, and I was wondering if you could tell me a few so my wing and I don't break them."

Skywarp chuckled. "This base has more than most. It would take me a while to give you a full rundown. How's you wingmate before I start?"

"Amethyst? The Constructions are trying to replace the wing he damaged," Wingstar muttered. "They're having difficulty since we're not in our adult frames and all the parts they have are for adults. He's grounded for a while."

"Good," Skywarp grinned, "I'd hate to lose that ace. He's fun. Anyway, the rules. Let's see, where to begin…"

Skywarp tilted his chair back so it was on two legs as he thought. "First off, stay out of Megatron's way. If you see him salute, say yes sir or Lord, or something to appease him. That's all you say. Wait until he passes and then continue on your way. Whatever you do, do not approach him after we've been defeated by the Autobots or his superweapon of the week blows up. You'll regret it. He's torn off Starscream's wings before."

Wingstar swallowed. "Noted."

"Second, do not help the Cassettes with their pranks against Motormaster. You know who he is right?" Skywarp asked.

"The leader of the Stunticons," Wingstar recited. "I heard he's cranky."

"That's an understatement," Skywarp promised. "Last week, the other Stunticons helped Rumble and Frenzy superglue feathers on Motormaster while he was recharging. Motormaster spent the entire afternoon chasing them from one side of the ship to the other. When he caught up with Dead End he ran them over. It was going fine until they ran Megatron over."

Wingstar's jaw dropped when he heard that. "They did what?"

Skywarp grinned and nodded. "You heard me right. Keep your distance from Screamer. He really likes his nullray."

"Since you said nullray, I assume you mean Starscream?" Wingstar hadn't heard the nicknames yet. "Why do you call him Screamer?"

"Can't you guess?" Skywarp gave a cocky grin. "His voice is all screamy and he's so annoying and whiny."

Wingstar snickered at the truth of that, but quickly suppressed it. Starscream was his superior officer and this was disrespectful.

Skywarp noticed the snicker, but he also saw Wingstar suppress it. He stopped. Judging from his reaction to Skywarp's video game he could guess that Wingstar was used to following the rules. "Never accept anything from Mixmaster. His concoctions are very dangerous."

Wingstar thought about the profiles he had read. "Mixmaster, member of the Constructions, genius, but unstable."

Skywarp smiled, "that is put mildly. Let's see… don't go after Rumble and Frenzy no matter what prank they've pulled on you if they're back with Soundwave."

"Do they do pranks a lot?" Wingstar asked.

"Yep," Skywarp was ticking off the points on his fingers. "Blitzwing was the only 'Con who tried going through Soundwave. It was never repeated."

"Yeah," Wingstar now smiled. "Telepaths can be very scary. Darksky's a tep."

"Your wingmate's telepathic?" Skywarp replied in surprise.

"It's one of the reasons we were transferred here." Wingstar thought this had been explained before. "Soundwave's supposed to teach him."

"Another tep," Skywarp sighed. He clapped a hand onto his face. "Well, I guess he's on the Seeker side so it can't be all that bad."

"Seeker side?" Wingstar frowned. "There are sides?"

"You'll pick up on it before long. I think it's one of the reasons why the Autobots keep thrashing us." Skywarp shook his head. "We're too busy fighting each other to actually win."

"Do you just mean tensions between the grounders and the Seekers?" Wingstar asked curiously. He had noticed the exact same thing about the Decepticons.

"Not just that although there is that to," Skywarp tried to figure out how to explain this. "Have you seen Thrust and the other Coneheads?"

"Yes, and they're called Coneheads?"

Skywarp snickered. "That's what us real Seekers call them. You know about Vos, right, and how we ended up joining the Cons?"

"Vos is one of the city-states that Cybertron was broken into before the war," Wingstar spoke quietly. He knew this, but it saddened him. "It was the home of the Seekers, and originally ruled by the Emperor Sunstrike and his mate Ravenwing. They had a son called Warsong. When the war broke out they were killed by the Autobots, so we Seekers joined Megatron."

"That sums it up fairly well," Skywarp hummed. "Megatron thinks that the Coneheads are an improvement to us real Seekers that are descendants of Vos, and he would rather them then us."

Wingstar simmered. "They are not!"

"I know, trust me," Skywarp promised. "Stay on the lookout. They don't like us real Seekers, and you three are newbies."

"I can handle myself," Wingstar said confidently.

"I saw you fight," Skywarp reminded Wingstar, "but Thrust and his other lab-bred kin didn't."

"Then I'll show him firsthand what I can do if he asks," Wingstar replied with a smile.

Skywarp had originally thought that Wingstar was a little stuck up, but he realized that the kid was kind of cool. "Hey Wing, do you believe the rumors about Warsong? About half do and half don't."

"The rumors that Prince Warsong might not be dead?" Wingstar asked.

"His body was never found amid the ruins of the palace even though his parents were," Skywarp edged on. "TC thinks it's fake and Screamer doesn't want to hope that Warsong is around. If the Prince is alive then he's the leader of Air Warriors of Vos and not him."

TC must be short for Thundercracker, Wingstar thought. "You believe he's alive though."

Skywarp nodded.

"I suppose it's possible," Wingstar hadn't given it much thought. "There is no proof either way, but the fact that there was no body does make you wonder."

"So you do believe," Skywarp gave a goofy grin. "Just don't mention it near Megs or Screamer."

Wingstar's look blanked. Did Skywarp just call Lord Megatron, Megs?

"Oh," Skywarp suddenly remembered, "one more thing. If you see the cassettes being chased through the hallways by someone or something remember to duck into a room – even if its someone's quarters. As long as it isn't Screamer they'll understand."

Wingstar nodded again. This base was going to be interesting living in. That was for sure.

* * *

Starscream was in his quarters. He sat on a chair and stared at a DataPadd in front of him. Despite his appearance, he really wasn't paying the slightest attention to it.

Edgeflight. That damned technique. He had made the mistake of using it once, and he had thought it was over. When he thought about it, he supposed that would just be too easy. Starscream never should have made it.

The first time he had used it he thought he had been in clear airspace, and when he pulled off a turn his radar blanked out and he had crashed into another Seeker. His wing had gotten sheared off and a lot of his frame had underwent molecular shattering. He had crashed, and that hadn't been pretty either.

That was the first time it had almost killed him. He should have learned his lesson from that, but he had gone on and turned it into its own flight style. Who would have thought that he was such a moron?

The only good thing that had come out of that accident was that the Seeker he had crashed into and gotten his wing sheared off by had been none other than Skyfire. Skyfire had brought him to a medical facility and had come by later to check on him once he was stable. Starscream had his nose in a DataPadd trying to get the equations for Edgeflight to work correctly when Skyfire had knocked in the door of the room he was in.

Skyfire had apologized for nearly killing Starscream, although Starscream had insisted it was his fault. When they had stopped trying to override each other, Skyfire had seen the equations Starscream had been working on. Starscream had assumed that the complex math would made Skyfire's head spin, but he had been surprised when his visitor had corrected him on a mistake he had made.

After Starscream had embarrassedly fixed it, the equations had started to make sense. They talked a little more and Starscream explained the beginnings of what would be Edgeflight. He had also found out that Skyfire was a scientist like he was and that he to visited Crystal City, the scientific center of Cybertron. It was the start of their friendship.

Starscream shook off the memories and brought himself back to present time. Dreaming about a past that no longer had anything to do with him was a waste. He tossed his Padd to his desk and stood up with a huff. There had to be something he could do to stop Edgeflight from returning, but what?

Megatron had given him very clear orders that he expected to be carried out by tomorrow. He could always disobey Odin but he knew already just how useless that was. All that would happen is that he would end up with a wing torn off again.

Skyfire would be able to think of a way out of this. The thought jumped out at Starscream unbidden. Skyfire had been the one who had originally warned Starscream that Edgeflight was too dangerous. Starscream had ignored him and dozens of Vos's Air Warriors had paid the price.

Starscream threw those thoughts away harshly. Why in Primus's name was he thinking like that? You see, he scolded himself. This is what happens when you dwell on the past. The past starts to bother you back.

Sounds of shouting echoed outside of his room, and Starscream tilted is head at the door. Now what was going on? He reluctantly walked over and opened the door. Almost instantly he could heard the sounds of chaos, and a moment later he saw the Laserbeak and Buzzsaw fly by with Rumble and Frenzy hitching a ride on top of them. Chasing them was the entire Combaticon team, and it looked as if they had just been pelted by water balloons filled with pink paint and gold glitter.

Starscream calmly closed his door as the Combaticons stormed past his quarters. Those Cassettes got the run of the place just because Soundwave was their Guardian and there wasn't a thing anyone could do against Soundwave. They were worse than Skywarp!

How was it that everyone in this base got along better then Starscream did? It wasn't fair! Even Wingstar and those other younglings had it better then him. They were the heroes of the hour, and it didn't look like their star would fall for some time yet.

Why should Starscream care about what Edgeflight did to his Seekers anyway? They all despised him, and thought him of nothing but a fool. Well fine, if that was true then it shouldn't matter. He'd teach them Edgeflight!

Impossibly, he suddenly thought about Prince Warsong looking up at him and smiling. Warsong had wanted Starscream to teach him how to use Edgeflight so he could fight better, and he had just gotten done telling Starscream a list of reasons why he should learn it. Starscream had turned him down of course because he didn't want any harm coming to the young Prince of Vos – his prince.

He shook it off with a growl, and looked back to his Padd. What was with him today? Follow Megatron's orders and don't get your wings tore off. It was that simple. Warsong had absolutely nothing to do with it especially since he was dead!

Starscream gave a huge sigh and turned off his Padd. He really needed to get a good night's recharge. That would hopefully clear his head, and help him think a little clearer. Tomorrow began his Edgeflight lessons, and that was simply that.

* * *

 **I know my Starscream does not sound like the one in the G1 series. That is partially because I am not watching the G1 series as i write this, and partially because the Starscream in that series is one hell of a douche. Edgeflight drags up a lot of bad memories that he's done his best to forget ever happened - _everyone has a few memories like that_. **

**Starscream was a citizen of Vos before the war, and he knew Warsong. The destruction of Vos's royal family was not pretty. That's an angle i think is missed. Before the war, Starscream was simply a scientist that made a friend and went out mapping the quadrant with him.**

 **Starscream caused a lot of deaths with Edgeflight, and while that normally wouldn't bother him this was before the war. I think that if he could have been such close friends with someone like Skyfire then he must have not always been so horrible as he is now.**

 **If you didn't get the explanation about Vos and it's rulers let me know and i'll try to clear it up. By the by, anyone have good names for an Emperor of Vos? I like Ravensong for the Empress, but Sunstrike doesn't have the right ring for an emperor...**


	5. Alone

Megatron looked at the image of the image of the black diamond named "Sergio." Most humans thought it was the largest diamond on Earth, but that was not what interested him. What did was the fact that it was a black diamond. Unlike normal diamonds, black diamonds were fragments of meteors that had fallen to Earth long ago.

This diamond was in fact made of a type of energon that had crystallized into diamond when it had fallen to Earth. Channeling energy through it would result in a form of necrosis weaponry. He wanted to equip it to his Fusion Cannon.

Geting it meant a raid, and _that_ meant a battle against the Autobots. Megatron wondered how Starscream's lessons with Edgeflight were going. It had been six days since he had given Starscream his new orders. He knew Starscream had followed them and thought that now might be a good time to test the Seekers.

He reached over to his desk and tapped a few things. The Seekers weren't in the base. That was not normal. Megatron frowned now and checked a few things. According to the base's radar there was a huge thunderstorm brewing right over the base. Well, that explained where the Seekers were.

"Storm tag," He growled as he slammed off the cameras.

* * *

The Seekers screamed through the sky, diving and feinting. Many times they nearly crashed into each other. Sonic booms reverberated through the clouds as they broke the sound barriers in time with the thunder. Lightning illuminated their forms, and the jet streams within the clouds sheared them left and right. If one listened they would be able to hear the Seekers shouting dares and insults at each other; however, no shots were fired.

There was no purpose to their aerial dance as they played chicken with each other and the storm. Any Autobots would have been severely confused, for Megatron was correct. The Decepticons were playing a game of storm tag.

Storm tag was a wild and unforgiving game – perfect for the ruthless Decepticons. It was one thing to race around the clear sky. Doing so in the middle of a storm's wrath was far worse. They had bad visibility, heavy rain and occasional hail that rendered radar useless, thunder rolling through the area rattling servos and muffling the telltale warning sound of jet engines, the lightning, and of course the other Seekers to contend with.

The rules were fairly simple: _Don't touch the ground_. If one crashed or was forced to land, then they were out. Be the last Seeker in the air to win.

The Seekers could smash into their opponents, lure them into lightning strikes, dizzy them with their own sonic wake, or otherwise try to get them to crash. They weren't allowed to transform, use weapons, or special powers such as Skywarp's teleportation. If you did get caught doing so you would get a laser bolt across your nose cone (or up it depending on who spotted you).

Technically speaking, storm tag was more than just a game. It gave the Seekers valuable flight experience in bad conditions because unfortunately the skies couldn't always be clear and sunny in battle. The Seekers also learned each other's strengths, weaknesses, flight style, and tactics. This allowed them to more effectively work as a team during battle.

It was a game that had been played all the time back on Cybertron back when it did not rain acid, a time before the war. Starscream had played it all the time with Skyfire and other Seekers of Vos. Whenever a storm appeared over Vos work seemed to stop. Children were usually grounded so they couldn't be hurt by the game's many perils, but the adults played like children. They even made tournaments out of it.

Starscream had reintroduced the game to the Seekers of Earth after learning that the rain on Earth was not acidic. It had been an excuse to get out of the ship and into the skies. As all Decepticons could fly the game was open to anyone. Because of the severe advantage the jets had though, few non-Seekers ever tried.

Wingstar found he already knew the game's rules. That had surprised him since he was sure he had never played it before.

Since he was in the middle of a game, now was not the best time to be lost in his thoughts about that. He killed his engines suddenly and a lightning strike flashed right in front of his nosecone, barely missing him. A moment after the lightning there was a crash of thunder that rattled his servos. It was unfortunate he couldn't dodge that.

The game had been going on for half an hour and nearly all the Seekers on Earth were playing. It was a welcome break from the rigors of Starscream's Edgeflight training. Several Seekers were sulkily nursing their wounds on the ground. Wingstar and his wing were still in it though. Along with him were Starscream and his wing, Ramjet, Thrust, and Dirge.

Wingstar had already figured out the Seeker's unique advantages. Starscream was the fastest, Thundercracker could take the noise of the thunder, Skywarp had a perfect sense of direction from being a teleporter and was impossible to ambush, Ramjet was built to crash into things, Thrust could change speed in an instant, and Dirge was just plain stubborn.

His own wingmates were doing fairly good. Amethyst seemed to enjoy playing chicken with the lightning and the other Seekers. So far his insane flight style and sheer luck had kept him from getting hit by either.

Darksky knew his telepathy was against the rules, and wasn't using it. Despite that, he seemed to have a sixth sense for knowing when something was going to happen before it happened. As a medic, he also knew all of the weak points in a Seeker's armor, and seemed to be having luck taking them down without crashing himself.

Wingstar's own advantage seemed to be his instincts. This was the first time he had ever flown in a storm, and yet he seemed to know what he was doing. He didn't understand it.

There was a set area and altitude for the game that players weren't allowed to leave. It was a large area, but Wingstar suddenly saw the silhouette of another jet at his 3 o'clock high. Was it one of his wingmates?

That question was answered a moment later when the silhouette dived through the clouds. No, it was Dirge. Amethyst came out of nowhere and flew right in front of Dirge's nosecone shouting taunts as he went. Dirge changed courses and chased after him.

Dirge's stubbornness was also a weakness. As he tried to chase down Amethyst, Wingstar saw his wingmate suddenly pull up on the accelerator and do an about face snap turn. The sheer g-force as he turned 180 degrees made him stall momentarily. Then he was shooting back the way he had come and Dirge flew right past him.

With the shelter of the clouds and thunder masking Amethyst's engines, Dirge didn't even realize he had lost his prey. While he chased something that wasn't there, Amethyst went higher and looked for a lightning bolt. One soon found him, and he fell back through the clouds with the lightning at his heels.

He dived next to Dirge and flew underneath him and away. The lightning changed targets to Dirge. Dirge had no idea what hit him until the lightning… well, hit him. It got him on his right wing and scorched it and the systems. Before long he was falling through the air.

Amethyst whooped and did a quick loop-de-loop through the air. "Scratch Dirge."

"Nice one," Wingstar congratulated over the comm.

"Hey TC," Skywarp called over the comm. "How about we tag team the newbies and ground 'em? I fear it's the only chance we've got to win."

"Sounds fine," TC responded. "Do you know where they are?"

"Yes," Darksky suddenly chimed in.

Wingstar thought his wingmate was going to help Skywarp and Thundercracker with their tag team. A moment later he heard Skywarp shout ambush as Darksky dropped down on him and slashed his wing with his. He hit a weak spot and Skywarp's wing buckled. He fell.

"Scratch Skywarp," Darksky announced over the channel calmly.

Amethyst laughed over the channel. "Sneakin' up on 'Warp? Nice one Darksky!"

Starscream would have rolled his eyes had he been human as he heard the chatter over the radio.

During the game, Seekers were not allowed to use their telepathic connection with their wingmates. They could only speak on the comm. over an open frequency that all the players were listening to. Because they were on the same frequency, Starscream could hear every word of the conversation.

He had told the Seekers beforehand that Edgeflight was not allowed, so Amethyst's shear left to dodge another lightning bolt was a normal one. It could be said that the 180 degree turn he used to ditch Dirge was Edgeflight, but no one had called him on it.

Despite the light humor in the air, Starscream was still remembering their lessons. So far there had been no deaths or serious injuries among the Seekers. That was as expected. Their training near _Nemesis_ was under tightly-controlled circumstances. It was only when the unpredictability of battle was added to the equation that things became lethal.

His communicator suddenly chimed, and Starscream frowned. Was one of the Seekers contacting him on a closed frequency? That wasn't quite fair. If they were caught then the other Seekers would have rights to open fire and shoot them down.

It wasn't a Seeker however.

"Lord Megatron," Starscream greeted as he opened the channel.

"Report back to base," Megatron said briskly. "I have a mission for the Seekers."

Starscream's vocals failed him. A mission meant battle with the Autobots. This was the last thing he wanted, but knew better then to disobey Megatron.

"As you wish," he replied reluctantly.

Starscream flew the clouds without really paying attention. In battle, Edgeflight would become a lethal flight technique. What choice did he have? Question Megatron and get his wings ripped off again? No thanks.

The sonic boom of thunder jolted him to the present. There was enough power in the soundwaves that Starscream was thrown through the air like a paper plane. It took but a moment for him to righten himself, but a little longer for his hearing to return.

Once he was under control, he entered a nice glide down through the black clouds to the clear sky beneath them. Seekers weren't allowed to leave the cloud cover unless they were landing or trying very hard not to crash. The sky was dark and dreary. Rain pelted down in sheets. They truly had found a storm. Starscream looped in a lazy oval in his jet form.

"Seekers," Starscream transmitted over the open channel. "Stop the game. Megatron wants us to return to base immediately for a mission."

One of the rules of Storm Tag was that Starscream couldn't fake a message from Megatron to lure other Seekers so he could attack them. If he did they were free to shoot. It hadn't been Starscream's idea, but he had needed to in order to get the others to play.

"Megatron can blow it out his exhaust pipe," Thrust snapped over the channel as he tried to chase down Amethyst as vengence for Dirge's elimination.

Thundercracker came out of nowhere and hit him with a sonic wake as he flew right over his engines. It made Thrust's engines stall out. Thrust cursed loudly as he ended up diving straight down, fighting for control. He dropped out of the cloud cover, but managed to level out a handful of meters above the ocean's surface.

"I am still on the channel!" Megatron's voice suddenly shouted to all the Seekers. "Get back to base!"

He had heard everything Thrust had said. Furiously, Thrust transformed into his humanoid form, and hovered beneath the clouds. The other Seekers who had and were dropping out of the clouds flew in an oval pattern around him. One could almost imagine they were taunting Thrust from the flight pattern. Thrust swung at Amethyst when he got too close, but wasn't brave enough to shoot _or_ say anything when Megatron might still be able to hear him.

"Come on," Starscream snapped.

He altered his course to head back to the ship as the docking tower was lifted above the waves. The Seekers who had been shot down were all perched on a small island nearby. They took off to and all of them entered the ship once more.

Battle, and with it the inevitable casualties of Edgeflight. Starscream wished there was something he could do to stop it, but what? Who could he trust with his thoughts? Who would help him?

* * *

 _Autobot Base_

Skyfire was looking curiously at the file that Teletraan-One had on his screen. "That's a black diamond?"

Sitting in front of the screen in his wheelchair, Chip Chase nodded in excitement. "Black diamonds are thought to be fragments of fallen meteorites. This one is called Sergio. It's about to go on display in Brazil."

Despite being an Autobot warrior, Skyfire was a scientist first and this black diamond spiked his scientific curiosity. He hadn't had much of a chance to look at a black diamond before. Out of habit, he turned to ask Starscream what he had researched about black diamonds. Then he remembered that Starscream wasn't here anymore, and looked down.

Chip glanced up at him, but didn't say anything.

It hadn't sunk in for Skyfire yet, and he idly wondered if he ever would. Transformers were beings that aged by eons, yet Skyfire had had a mere two years to adjust to the reality that Starscream was his enemy. Starscream had tried to kill him several times already, so Skyfire was left to wonder why he couldn't take the hint that Starscream was his enemy?

"Old habit," Skyfire said quietly. He spoke louder, "are you curious about the diamond?"

"Yeah," Chip nodded.

"When the exhibition opens maybe I could take you down there?" Skyfire offered.

"Really?" Chip asked brightly. His eyes seemed to glow with the same scientific curiosity Skyfire felt.

Skyfire nodded. A little expedition would take his mind off of Starscream. After all, what were the chances that he'd meet up with Starscream there?

* * *

 **Yep, Skyfire and Starscream are going to crash into each other. I have yet to determine just literal that statement is, and exactly what Starscream is going to do. Megatron is really driving him crazy with this Edgeflight stuff.**

 **As for storm tag it is a game Seekers play. I did not create it, i simply read it. Several other writers on this site and others use the concept of Storm Tag, and i agree that it is cool. You wouldn't expect Deception Seekers to be playing like sparklings.**

 **Yep, Megatron hates it. If a game is played through to the end then only one of his Seekers can actually fly. Raiding energon and fighting Autobots is quite difficult when there is just one Seeker fit for battle. When the other Seekers are being fixed they use spare parts, extra energon while they heal, and the time of his Constructicons. Now instead of working on Megatron's super weapon of the week, _they_ have to patch up his troops because they were just making each other crash. **

**I'm not entirely sure, but is an eon a million years? If it's not please correct me.**


	6. Second Strike

Megatron glowered over the group of Seekers in the Medical Bay. Out of all his Seekers, the only ones flight worthy were Starscream, Thundercracker, Thrust, Wingstar, and Darksky. The Constructicons were tied up repairing the injured Seekers, so they would not be able to help with the mission either. It was insufferable.

"Can't the mission wait until everyone's repaired?" Amethyst asked Thundercracker quietly.

It was not quiet enough to prevent Megatron from hearing him, although he might have spoken loud on purpose. Megatron turned to face Amethyst. Amazingly, the cadet didn't cringe back in fear. He hadn't been here long enough to see what Megatron did to Seekers who failed him.

"If you Seekers wish to play around then you can do so on your own time," Megatron warned him. "There is a war going on. Since you want to go chase around the lightning you four can go on your own. You leave immediately."

He motioned to Starscream, Thundercracker, Wingstar, and Darksky. Megatron knew that there was a new Seeker transferring from Cybertron in a few hours, but he didn't mention it. They could just go on their own.

"What?" Amethyst replied grumpily. "The Conehead isn't coming?"

Wow, Starscream thought, the moron was really pushing his luck. Megatron pretended he didn't hear it as he stalked out of the medbay. Amethyst was extremely lucky, and lucky he was such a skilled flyer that he had not yet been deemed disposable.

"Come on," Starscream snapped.

Amethyst waved goodbye to his wingmates as they walked out, and lay down in his bunk. He was still awaiting repairs.

"At least we're just fetching a diamond," Wingstar told Darksky.

"A black diamond," Darksky corrected. "I don't know much about them I fear."

"It's a meteor fragment that's been transformed into crystal," Starscream explained. "Likely from the intense heat as it passed through Earth's atmosphere."

Darksky nodded that he understood. Thundercracker glanced at his wingmate curiously. It was not too often that Starscream's science side showed itself. He didn't say anything though. The scientist Starscream was easier to deal with then the Air Commander.

* * *

"Are you sure Prime won't mind that we left?" Skyfire asked.

"Of course not," Wheeljack promised. "All he'll do is worry that we might get into trouble, but we're heading straight back to base."

"I still don't see why you dragged me along," Sideswipe growled.

Sideswipe, Wheeljack, and Chip were all taking a ride with Skyfire to see the black diamond. It was simple curiosity for most of them. All except Sideswipe who Ratchet had practically shooed onto Skyfire. Ratchet's excuse was that Sideswipe needed something to take his mind off of Wingstar.

"Sunstreaker's back to full strength," Wheeljack promised Sideswipe. "You just need a little distraction to stop brooding."

"I have not been brooding," Sideswipe growled darkly.

He leaned back against Skyfire, and his new jetpack clanged against the metal. Sideswipe grimaced. This was not the jetpack he was used to. The differences were driving him crazy.

Wheeljack looked at him knowingly. Sideswipe had been brooding. He'd kept to himself, and not said a word to anyone. For most of this past week he had been training himself ragged both with his blaster and his sword. He, like Skyfire, found it unlikely that they would run into Decepticons on this little trip. If they did though, Wheeljack might very well pity the 'Cons for the thrashing Sideswipe would give them.

What really bothered Wheeljack was the fact that Sideswipe hadn't let anyone fix his insignia. His auto-repair systems had fixed the minor damage from where Wingstar had slashed his chest, but his insignia was still scarred from the blow. He had let no one repaint it. Sideswipe said it was a reminder.

A reminder of what? The Decepticon who had beat him and nearly killed Sunstreaker? That was a very dangerous mindset for Sideswipe to be in. If he wasn't careful his "reminder" could get him killed in battle next time when he tried to pay Wingstar back.

Skyfire reflected that Sideswipe was acting just as moody as his brother whenever he had been deprived of a fight. His brother had joined the Decepticon ranks early in the war, and Skyfire had learned from Teletraan-One's files that he had been killed in action 5 million years ago. Well, his brother had gone out fighting for the glory of the Decepticon cause, just like he wanted.

Skyfire had called ahead to the museum, so they were expected. He landed in the parking lot – still empty since it was several hours before the grand opening of the black diamond exhibit. There were a few humans waiting just outside the museum. They walked over as the passengers disembarked and Skyfire transformed.

"Welcome Autobots," one of the humans in a suit greeted. "I am Abrahan Díaz, the curator of this museum."

"Pleased to meet you," Wheeljack greeted. "I'm Wheeljack, and this is Skyfire, Chip Chase and Sideswipe."

Everyone said hello or waved in Chip's chase when their names were called except Sideswipe. He was sulking, and hung back.

"I am honored to meet you," Díaz promised. "Would you like to see the diamond?"

"Of course!" Wheeljack said cheerfully.

Díaz turned and led them inside. The museum was huge, and Skyfire was glad he was able to fit in there.

"You are free to look around," Díaz promised the group. "Just don't touch anything," he chuckled.

They dispersed. Skyfire looked around the museum. He felt relaxed. This reminded him of the museums back on Cybertron before the war. Starscream had never had any interest in museums, and Skyfire remembered how he would sometimes drag Starscream out of the lab – declaring that he needed a break – and take him to one. Since Skyfire was large enough, there had been one or two occasions where he had simply scooped up Starscream in his arms after he said no and carried him out. Those were good times, but there were long gone.

His scanner built into his arm suddenly beeped that it had detected energy. It was leftover technology from the time when he had merely been a scientist. One of the reasons he had left the Decepticons was because he had no wish to be a warrior, yet, he suddenly realized that he still was a warrior. He was just following Optimus's orders now instead of Megatron's and Starscream's.

Skyfire shook the thoughts off, and looked at what the scanner had found. Something in the building was giving off a powerful energy reading. What could be doing that?

He turned left and then right. The scan was stronger to the left. He put a hand over the scanner to temporarily mute it.

"Mr. Díaz," Skyfire addressed.

"Yes?" Díaz asked.

"How is this building powered? The city plant?"

"We get most of our power from the solar panels on the roof," Diaz made a motion upward. "You may have seen them when you flew overhead. What else we need we draw from the power grid, but that is usually minimal."

Neither of those sources would make his scanner start beeping at him. Skyfire removed his hand and looked at the scanner again. It was trying to analyze the source, but seemed to need better readings. With no other plan, he followed the scanner straight to the source. He stepped around and over some of the exhibits, and was only mildly surprised when he realized the energy source was the black diamond itself.

Chip Chase had wheeled over and was looking at it. He heard the sounds of the scanner and looked up. "What's that noise, Skyfire?"

"My scanner," Skyfire explained. "It's detecting energy."

He swept his scanner around the room, and it narrowed onto the black diamond.

"The readings are coming from Sergio," Skyfire held the scanner closer to the jewel and the energy emission readings almost doubled. "A lot of energy."

"Wow," Chip blinked as he looked at the scanner. He pushed up his glasses back up his nose when they slid down. "That's towards the higher end of the scale, isn't it?"

"Yes," Skyfire concurred. "Black diamonds are meteor fragments. Perhaps the meteor this jewel came from was extremely energy rich. I wonder if its energy rich enough for the Decepticons to want it."

"DECEPTICONS!" Sideswipe suddenly shouted.

His voice echoed across the empty museum. Over his voice one could just barely hear the sound of approaching jets.

"We got three jets inbound!" Sideswipe shouted once more before racing back outside.

"Does that answer your question Skyfire?" Chip asked.

"Unfortunately it does." Skyfire shut off his scanner and reached for his photon rifle.

He ran back outside where Wheeljack was standing beside Sideswipe.

"D-Decepticons," Díaz stuttered.

"Don't worry," Chip assured him. "The Autobots'll chase them off."

Skyfire felt his spark drop when he saw Starscream leading the four jets. It seemed that he would have to fight his former friend yet again.

"Wingstar," Sideswipe whispered as his eyes locked onto the smaller blue and silver Seeker.

He reached up and touched the scarred Autobot insignia on his chest. This trip wasn't a total waste after all. It seemed he'd get to pay Wingstar back. Excitedly, he went down on one knee and raised his blaster to the Seekers.

"Autobots!" Starscream realized with surprise.

"Can't we go anywhere without having to fight them?" Thundercracker grumbled.

"I guess not," Wingstar joined in. His radar had detected his red opponent from the last battle among the Autobots.

"Darksky," Starscream relayed. "We'll draw the Autobots fire. Once they're distracted go and get the diamond. The sooner we get it the sooner we can leave."

"Understood," Darksky said calmly.

He had been flying above and behind the rest of the group, and now veered off so he wouldn't be seen. Wingstar's idea of leaving one of their fliers out of sight had worked. They _had_ run into Autobots, and those Autobots likely thought they were under attack by just three Seekers.

"Decepticons!" Starscream announced. "Attack!"

The wing of Seekers flew downward, laser rifles firing. Skyfire forwent his rifle and transformed, flying straight to the Seekers. They scattered to avoid him. He focused on Starscream, sure that the other Autobots could handle the remaining two.

"Hello Starscream!" Skyfire greeted tauntingly.

He fired over Starscream's left wing, trying to get him to follow. Shooting at Starscream was not easy to do, but he had to do it. If he didn't, Starscream would attack the Autobots and Chip on the ground. At this point he tried to think like his fight-crazy brother.

Wheeljack and Sideswipe opened fire on the remaining two. Sideswipe focused his shots on Wingstar. The Autobot's gold bolts arced into the sky while the Decepticon's violet ones raked the ground. Unknown to the Autobots, Darksky landed behind the museum and blasted a wall down. He had a clean run at the black diamond.

Chip Chase jumped at the sound of a laser shot behind him. Where did that come from? He looked at Mr. Díaz, but the curator hadn't heard. Suddenly, he remembered the energy readings on the black diamond. There must be a fourth Decepticon going after the diamond, Chip realized as he rolled himself back into the museum.

* * *

Soundwave was at the controls of the Decepticon ship when someone paged him. He activated it, and a voice filtered over the system. A picture appeared onscreen of a large black Decepticon jet with purple highlights.

"This is Spitfire," the jet relayed. "I just got transferred from Cybertron."

"Send the transfer orders to confirm," Soundwave informed him in his monotone voice.

Spitfire did so. The orders checked out, and Soudwave raised the docking tower.

"Hey," Spit fire asked. "Is there any fighting going on right now? The whole reason I transferred is because I heard Earth's a battleground."

"Four of our Seekers have engaged Autobots in Brazil," Soundwave answered. "Megatron has ordered them to fight alone."

Spitfire had already accessed his nav computer. It tapped into the humans World Wide Web to get the coordinates of Brazil. He set his comm to cycle through the channels until he could find the one being used by the Seekers in Brazil. That would allow him to hone onto their exact position rather than having to search a whole country. The channel and the Seeker's coordinates were locked on.

"Sounds like fun," Spitfire chuckled.

He saw the docking tower rise above the waves and open to admit him. Spitfire turned it down and tilted his wings so that they were vertical rather than horizontal. The air screamed around him as he slingshot around the docking tower and flew to the battlefield.

"Megatron says no interference," Soundwave repeated.

"Good for him," Spitfire replied cheerfully. "I on the other hand came here to fight, and that's what I'm going to do. Spitfire out."

He shut off his comm, leaving Soundwave to look at a blank screen.

* * *

Darksky managed to go around the exhibits for the most part, and respectfully left them undamaged. He felt a mind before he saw the black diamond. It was not an Autobot. A human in a wheeled chair had crossed the stanchions around the black diamond and was trying to open the case so he could get it.

"Halt human," Darksky ordered.

The human flinched in surprise and looked at him fearfully. The eye contact was all Darksky needed to get inside the human's mind. This human was a friend of the Autobots and he was trying to steal the black diamond and hide it before the Decepticons could get it.

"You're right Autobot friend," Darksky said levelly. "I am trying to take that diamond. You will not be stopping me."

Chip wondered how the Decepticon knew what he was thinking, but didn't have a chance to wonder long as Darksky raised his plasma rifle at Chip and fired.

* * *

 **I am ending the chapter here. Chip is not a character that is central to the plot and is disposable. If you want to see if he lives or not then you'll have to keep reading.**

 **I don't know what Megatron hates more, Storm-Tag or the Seekers who play it.**


	7. Brother

The sound of Darksky's shot was not heard over the calamity of battle outside. Thundercracker winged low over the attacking Autobots, and raised the speed up a notch. He flipped into a barrel roll just as he flew over the Autobots and the move kicked out a sonic boom. All glass within 30 miles shattered, and the Autobots were deafened by the sound.

Wingstar swooped in a little behind him, and opened fire on the stunned Autobots. At least one of his laser bolts hit Wheeljack. Sideswipe, although deafened, raised his pistol and fired. He didn't hear the shriek of the plasma shot.

The gold arrow laced across the surface of Wingstar's right wing. It made Wingstar's wing tip dangerously, but was not enough for him to crash. Wingstar lost his bead on Wheeljack, and pulled up before Sideswipe landed a more decisive blow.

Another shot came from above him and tore through his left wing, tearing a jagged gash in it that compromised his flight. Wingstar looked for his attacker and saw a mass of white above him be chased off by Starscream's well-placed bolts. Skyfire had shot him.

Wingstar growled as he transformed and touched to the ground. He had been so busy strafing his enemies on the ground that he had forgotten about the aerial dogfight happening above him. What a stupid, amateurish mistake!

A shot of gold light flew in front of his faceplate, reminding Wingstar that he was now on the ground. The Seeker's domain was in the air. He raised a rifle and fired blindly in the direction the shots had come from as he drew his sword out of subspace. Its edge glowed violet as it energized.

Wingstar was hardly surprised to see it was Sideswipe shooting at him. He sidestepped some of Sideswipe's shots and slashed another with his sword. Sideswipe's aim was not too good since he was shooting while running at Wingstar.

The instant he was close enough, Sideswipe dropped his blaster into subspace and swung his sword down with a vicious two-handed blow. Wingstar didn't bother to try and match it head on. He stepped to one side and raised his sword. Sideswipe's blade slid off of the edge of Wingstar's, and the sheer momentum made Sideswipe stumble as he was deflected away.

Wingstar twisted his blade to try and slash Sideswipe's side, but the young Autobot was able to recover and parry it away.

"You've gotten better," Wingstar acknowledged. "I suppose I should be honored."

"Honor this Decepti-Creep!" Sidesipe shouted as he tried to swing.

They passed blows around, and Wingstar was surprised by the fact that he did indeed have to try a little bit. Sideswipe seemed to realize that Wingstar wasn't going fullout and was merely toying with him like a cat toying with a mouse before they kill it. That frustrated him.

"Tell me," Wingstar said as their blades locked. "Why hasn't your insignia on your chest been fixed? Do you have no medic, or are you truly that upset that I beat you and almost killed your family?"

"Second one," Sideswipe hissed.

He hooked his foot behind Wingstar's leg and kicked him off balance as he shoved the Seeklet backwards. The effect made Wingstar fall flat to the ground. Wingstar managed to parry a swing from Sideswipe as he crashed to the ground, but the wild block tore the sword from his hands.

"Now die," Sideswipe growled as he rematerialized his blaster and pointed it at Wingstar.

He didn't get the chance to carry out his threat before a violet shot blasted him in the back of the leg. Sideswipe yelped in pain and tried to turn to face the new threat. Before he could, Wingstar kicked the damaged leg to drop Sideswipe and then shot him in the neck with a rifle. That downed him for a little bit.

Wingstar looked up at Darksky. His wingmate's rifle was still smoking from the shot.

"Thanks for the assist," Wingstar said.

He was not too prideful to admit that he had almost gotten killed. Wingstar glanced at his sword, some distance away, and held out his hand to it. It flew through the air back to his palm from the magnetics in its hilt and his gloves.

"Wingstar," Darksky began to scold. "When are you going to learn that just because you fight with honor, doesn't mean your opponents will. That goes double when you're fighting an Autobot."

Wingstar looked away to where Wheeljack was shooting at Thundercracker. He hadn't used either of his rifles while dueling with Sideswipe because they were fighting with swords and not blasters. That was the honorable way to fight, but Darksky was right. Autobots didn't play nice.

"I should have seen him tripping me up," Wingstar admitted. "Did you get the diamond?"

"Yes, we can go," Darksky took a few running steps and then jumped into the air and transformed.

Wingstar glared at his wingmate enviously. Thanks to the wing, he'd have to fly back to base in his root mode. He glanced at where Sideswipe was stirring. This was the perfect chance to kill him, but Wingstar didn't. There was no honor in blasting a defeated bot in the back, and unlike the Autobots he knew what honor meant.

A few plasma bolts shot to the ground near his feet, and Wingstar jumped back. He intended to shout at Darksky that he was coming, and there was no need to shoot. Darksky wasn't his opponent. It was a red jet, and it was no Decepticon.

"And awaa-aa-aay we go!" The red jet shouted as it opened fire on Thundercracker.

It dodged TC's return bolts with a neat loop-de-loop.

Wingstar ran the image through his database quickly. That was Powerglide, one of the few Autobot fliers, and unwelcome company. Pain laced between his shoulders as someone shot him in the back. He cringed and turned to see Sideswipe sitting up with the blaster in his hand.

That so proved Wingstar's point about playing fair! Dirty cheating Autobrats! Again, Wingstar had forgotten he was in the middle of a battle. _*Sigh.*_

Darksky saved Wingstar the trouble of shooting by blasting the blaster right out of Sideswipe's hand – along with quite a bit of his hand – with some of his legendary sharpshooting.

The battlefield shifted suddenly as the three heard the whining sound of a plane plummeting from the sky. A white blob flew down to the ground, and Wingstar used the distraction to take off. That white blob was Skyfire, and Starscream did a triumphant spin accompanied by his cackling laugh… Only to have his nosecone singed by one of Powerglide's shots.

"Why you!" Starscream shouted and dove off after him.

"Starscream," Darksky transmitted coolly. "We have the black diamond. Let's pull back."

Starscream didn't even acknowledge him. Shots came from below from Wheeljack and Sideswipe, the latter using one of the former's extra blasters with his one good hand. Skyfire transformed as he crashed to the ground with such force it caused a miniature earthquake.

"You think if we leave the Air Commander he'll realize he's fighting the Autobots alone, and disengage?" Wingstar asked Thundercracker over their channel.

"I have no idea," TC replied. "Once the tables turn against him I'm sure he'll run away though."

That was the moment when the Seekers were overshadowed. It was as if a cloud had just plotted out the sky, but that cloud had engines. Wingstar raised his head and gawked at the massive black Decepticon jet that had entered the ring.

"Who is that?" He asked.

"Dunno," TC said.

"I sense no hostility in its mind," Darksky told both of them. "At least not against his fellow Decepticons."

"Spitfire reporting in for combat!" The black jet introduced.

He fired the rifles locked above his wings and Powerglide sheared off with a yelp, feeling the lasers singe his stomach.

"Where'd he come from?" Powerglide demanded.

"Spitfire?" Starscream shrieked as he leveled out flying. "What are you doing here? I-I thought you were on Cybertron!"

"There's no fighting on Cybertron except for some rebels," Spitfire dismissed. "It's boring, so I got transferred. You know me Screamer, I love a good fight – or even a bad one!"

Spitfire was here, Starscream comprehended. That meant…

"Spitfire, Skyfire's-" Starscream tried to warn the Decepticon.

"I see him," Spitfire interrupted with a chuckle. "He gets into more trouble than me!"

"Skyfire's a-" Starscream tried again.

He was cut off by the click of Spitfire turning off his communicator.

"Who is that?" Wingstar asked Starscream politely.

"Spitfire," Starscream sighed. "Skyfire's brother."

"Does he know Skyfire's an Autobot?" TC scoffed.

"No," Darksky replied gently saving Starscream the trouble.

All Darksky could sense from Spitfire was excitement at seeing his brother. There was no overshadowing from the fact that the siblings were on opposite sides of the war. That meant Spitfire didn't know.

"Oh great," TC muttered. "This is going to end well."

"You can bet on that!" Powerglide shouted as he dove out of a cloud and strafed the jets. One of Thundercracker's wings exploded as he landed a direct hit.

Skyfire shook his head as he sat on the ground and let out a noise of pain. What a rough landing. The Seekers of Vos had a saying: _any landing you could walk away from was a good one_. By those terms, his landing wasn't too bad.

"Don't you neutrals know to stay off the battlefield?" A voice above him asked.

Skyfire looked up as he rubbed his sore head, and froze. He tried to say something but his vocalizer failed him. Standing over him with his usual cocky half-grin was Spitfire. A purple Decepticon Insignia was still on his chest.

Spitfire held out a hand. Skyfire looked at it for a moment, and then up at Spitfire before taking it. The Decepticon jet pulled him to his feet. For a moment, the two simply looked at each other. They were the same height with the same frame. Red and blue optics held the same wonder.

"I heard you were dead," Skyfire said quietly as his vocalizer finally worked.

"Starscream told me that he lost you when you two were scoutin' out a planet," Spitfire shot back. "Your name came up on a bit on Cybertron, but I didn't really think it was you. I guess I don't know any other Skyfires." He shrugged.

"What are you doing here?" Skyfire asked.

This was finally starting to sink in. His brother wasn't dead after all. Teletraan's information was faulty.

"Following the fighting," Spitfire chuckled. "What do you think?"

"Of course," Skyfire sighed deeply.

Spitfire's half-smile turned into a wide grin. "You know, I can't believe I'm saying this but I missed you scolding me for my habit of always being the middle of a fight."

Skyfire felt his shoulders relax. Somehow, he felt much better having his brother next to him.

"Here," Spitfire said.

He hooked Skyfire's fallen rifle with a foot and kicked it into the air. Skyfire held out his arms and the rifle landed squarely in them. Spitfire might be one of the larger Decepticons, but that didn't mean he was ungraceful.

"Bad enough a neutral's on the battlefield, let alone unarmed," Spitfire warned him.

"Neutral?" Skyfire said as the term clicked.

"I don't see a tag anywhere," Spitfire offered, "red or purple. Typically, that means you're a neutral."

Skyfire looked down at his chest. His Autobot symbol had been scratched off from the crash. You could see a little red, but not enough to recognize it for what it was. Spitfire still thought he was a neutral.

"Will you hurry up and shoot him already?" Thundercracker shouted down as he flew low overhead, Powerglide on his tail.

Spitfire instinctively raised is rifle to shoot down the Autobot trying to kill his fellow Decepticon.

"No!" Skyfire grabbed Spitfire's rifle and dragged the tip of it to the ground.

"Hey!" Spitfire jerked the rifle free. "I know you don't like the fact I joined the Decepticons, but I do have a war to win."

Darksky took careful aim, and fired. His shot went right through the side of Powerglide's plane mode. It wasn't a kill shot, but it took him out of the fight. Wingstar cut an energy bolt that Wheeljack shot with his sword before it could strike Darksky. Thundercracker was all too happy to chase down Powerglide while the cadets opened fire on the grounder Autobots.

"Spitfire!" Starscream shouted. "We're leaving! Shoot Skyfire and let's go!"

Confusion clouded Spitfire's red optics and he turned to look up at Starscream. "Why in Primus would I shoot my brother? Why would you? Did you blow a fuse?"

"He's an Autobot!" Starscream snapped. "The symbol just got scratched off from the crash."

Spitfire tensed. Slowly, he turned from Starscream to Skyfire. His smile was gone. Those artificial red optics focused on the scuff marks on Skyfire's chest. Now that he knew what to look for, he could see the tell-tell red color of an Autobot tag.

"Sky, you joined the Autobots?" Spitfire whispered quietly.

Skyfire looked down and hugged his rifle to his chest as if to hide the insignia from his brother's eyes.

"I thought," Spitfire said as he took a step back, "I thought you said that if the time came you had to choose a faction that you'd be a Decepticon. That way we'd be on the same side."

The pain in Spitfire's voice made Skyfire cringe.

Sideswipe stopped shooting and looked at Skyfire, dumbfounded. Wheeljack had the same expression. Skyfire's brother was a Decepticon? Skyfire had a brother?

"Spitfire," Sktyfire said quietly as he tried to figure out how to explain.

"Don't," Spitfire said sharply. "Not a word traitor."

The sudden spike of anger that came from the realization of betrayal broke Skyfire's spark. Spitfire raised his rifle to Skyfire. He looked quickly at the rifle Skyfire held – the rifle Spitfire had given back to him. So this was what Starscream had been trying to tell when he had been cut off.

Skyfire thought about raising his rifle, but then let it drop to the ground. "I won't shot you."

Spitfire now had a clean shot to kill Skyfire. Both Autobots and Decepticons had halted their attack watch the unfolding drama. Only the whining pitch of the dogfight between Thudnercracker and Powerglide remained. It was eerily compared to the sounds of battle that had filled the area minutes ago.

Spitfire raised he rifle to Skyfire's spark chamber. His hand was shaking badly enough that his rifle was.

"Sky," he said in a quiet, trembling voice.

He's going to shoot him! Sideswipe realized with horror. He snapped up his borrowed blaster and fired at the exact same moment that Spitfire did. Skyfire fell back, and Spitfire flinched in pain as the shot slammed into his shoulder.

He stumbled to one side, but managed to catch himself. Darksky shot at Sideswipe with both of his lasers, and the Autobot had to jump away to avoid being hit. Skyfire fell to the ground, already unconscious.

Spitfire looked at Skyfire with horror, as if he couldn't believe that he had just shot his own brother. Then he took off and transformed. His jet mood trembled, the wings tipping dangerously back and forth as he stabilized.

He noticed that Thundercracker and Wingstar were forced to fly in their root mode from the damage they had sustained, and found he still remembered his manners.

"Want a lift?" Spitfire asked the four other Seekers as they disengaged and followed him.

"Sure," Wingstar exhaled in relief.

Spitfire opened the door and he entered. Flying was a strain on you when you were in your jet mode. Doing it in your root mode? Forget it. The other Seekers entered and collapsed onto the floor.

Wheeljack didn't watch them go. He ran over to Skyfire to quickly check his friend's damage.

Sideswipe followed Spitfire's retreat with the blaster but soon realized the futility of it, and lowered it. He expected to hear Chip Chase congratulate them, and was surprised when he didn't. A quick look around gave no answer since he was not huddled in the entryway like Mr. Díaz was.

"Hey," Sideswipe asked. "Where's Chip?"

* * *

 **Where is Chip indeed. Now Skyfire has to fight his brother as well as his best friend. How is this going to turn out?**


	8. Different Times

In times of great distress it is a common defensive idea to think back to older memories, and to pretend that those memories are reality. That was what Skyfire did as he lay back in his quarters on the _Ark_ and rested.

The first memory that came to mind was a few days after his first meeting with Starscream –it had ended with Skyfire shearing Starscream's wing off. He had stopped by the medical ward where Starscream was recovering and found out that he was a scientist to, and that both of them worked at Crystal City. While Skyfire worked on astro exploration and mapping the galaxy, Starscream typically worked on refining energon although he was prone to deviate onto any other branch of science that he found interesting.

When Starscream was back on his feet he returned to Crystal City. He had missed a few days as he recovered, and was eager to get back to figuring out a way to refine the rifles used by the Air Warriors of Vos so that they used less energy. Skyfire greeted him there, and offered to show Starscream his lab. Starscream figured the rifles could wait a few hours and accepted.

The two had more in common than they had first thought. Both were citizens of the city-state Vos, and both worked in Tarn's Crystal City for the extra scientific resources that were provided there. It was a weekend, so Syfire's lab was empty except for him.

"Wow," was the first thing Starscream said as he looked around from the doorway. "It's a lot neater then my lab and I don't even work with a team."

"You work solo," Skyfire asked.

Starscream nodded. "Having a partner in the lab is fine, but I can manage most of it on my own." A wry smile appeared on his faceplate. "Somehow I manage to make my lab a disaster zone even though I'm the only one using it. How do you keep it so neat?"

Skyfire shrugged. Neither he nor his teammates liked a mess, so they typically just cleaned up when they were done and once a week all of them would work together and fix up the lab. Didn't Starscream do that?

Starscream walked further in and looked around at the equipment, and the starmap on the wall. Much of it was black, having not yet been explored. He respectfully kept his hands by his sides and didn't touch anything.

"I only recognize a little bit of this equipment," Starscream said after a few seconds. "Here I was thinking I had a little of everything."

The door to the lab hissed open again before Skyfire could answer, and he turned curiously. Was it one of his teammates?

"Ah ha!" A voice announced triumphantly. "I knew you would be here Sky. You're so predictable. Today's a day off, so why don't you ever come home?"

No, Skyfire sighed. This was not one of his teammates. It was Spitfire. "I was just-"

"Hey," Spitfire cut him off as he saw Starscream standing near the star map looking at him curiously. "Who's that?"

"That's Starscream," Skyfire tried to say patiently. "He's another scientist here."

A cocky grin spread as Spitfire glanced back at him. "Isn't he the Seeker ya knocked out of the sky a few days ago?"

"Yes," Skyfire admitted.

Spitfire chuckled and walked past Skyfire so he stood in front of Starscream.

"Hi," Spitfire introduced himself. "I'm Spitfire, Skyfire's twin, and the only one who knows to have fun."

Starscream had guessed that they were siblings since they shared the same frame. The two looked identical except Spitfire's eyes were bright yellow, and his color scheme was emerald green with a little silver highlighting around the wings chest, and helm.

"Starscream," he introduced needlessly. "Skyfire was just letting me look around his lab."

"I do know how to have fun," Skyfire raised his voice accidently as he defended himself. "My definition of fun simply does not include going to Kaon and participating in their gladiatorial matches."

"Once!" Spitfire exclaimed. "I entered the ring once! Usually I just watch and place a few bets. Not too often I loose credits." He added the last sentence for Starscream's benefit.

"Uh huh," Starscream said carefully.

Gladiatorial matches were forbidden from city-states such as Iacon, Tarn, and Vos, but were perfectly legal in ones like Kaon. The jets of Vos were more of a warrior race of Cybertronians, and they were a common sight at the matches. Starscream knew because he often saw other Seekers there whenever he went.

"Oh," Skyfire replied in feign shock. "So your definition of fun doesn't include wandering around bars in Kaon looking for a fight."

"Hey," Spitfire warned. "I don't start fights, but I don't back down from them either. I mean, if there's a giant brawl going on I probably will join in, but I don't start anything."

"I take it you like to fight," Starscream offered.

"A lot more then the geek behind me," Spitfire concurred as he swept a hand in Skyfire's direction.

Skyfire gave a huge sigh and stalked over to sit in one of the empty chairs. This was an argument he could never win.

"Spitfire," Starscream said curiously. "Do you place bets on Bloodshed?"

"Pretty much every time he's in the ring," Spitfire nodded. "He doesn't lose often, but he usually fights in a non-lethal round where both contestants usually survive, and I don't watch those as often."

He tilted his head at Starscream and his smile reappeared. "You bet on him when you go to the games, don't you?"

"Yes," Starscream admitted.

"You go to gladiatorial matches?" Skyfire explained in exasperation and slapped a hand over his faceplate.

The movement made Spitfire give a little maniacal chuckle. "I know what Sky does here, but what of you?"

"Whatever projects interest me," Starscream shrugged. "It's usually energon related. Right now, I'm trying to mod the Air Warriors rifles so they use less energy."

"Do you know how to shoot?" Spitfire asked Starscream.

"No," Starscream admitted. "I've never shot a rifle before, or any energy weapon."

Spitfire's optics seemed to widen. "Forget the fact that you're upgrading rifles, you're telling me that you go Kaon's games _unarmed_. Why aren't you dead yet? No offense…"

"None taken," Starscream replied coolly. "The games are held in the open, and I'm a good flier so I manage."

"Wait an astrosecond," Spitfire realized. "I think I saw you at one of the matches. Yeah, I did. You got into a fight with two armed Seekers and took off. They followed you. You came back a breem later with one a few scuffs on your wings. How did you take down those two without a weapon?"

Starscream wasn't in the mood to say that it was because he could fly at Mach 2.8, a speed no other Seeker could match. Most Seekers flew 2.6. That would give away his advantage.

"I'm a good flier," Starscream said instead.

"That's an understatement," Spitfire chuckled. "Sounds like you're a good warrior."

"Uh," Starscream hesitated here. "Actually I'm not a warrior. I'm a scientist. I just know how to stay alive."

"That's half of being a warrior," Spitfire promised.

"Spitfire, stop pestering him!" Skyfire finally interrupted.

"I'm raising a valid point!" Spitfire shouted back. He sounded just as exasperated as his brother. "If you don't have good survival instincts as a warrior, you're dead pretty quick! Those with good instincts might as well take advantage of it."

"Where did you hear that?" Skyfire asked sarcastically. "The Decepticons?"

Spitfire's next reply stuttered off, and Skyfire straightened when he realized that Spitfire had heard it from the Decepticons.

"Spitfire, that group is trouble," Skyfire warned sharply.

"How?" Spitfire defended. "They're just a political group that wants things to change. Iacon treats Kaon like third-class and the other city-states as second class. This age is called the Golden Age of Cybertron, but the only ones that are enjoying it are Iacon, and the Autobots. They're withholding all of Cybertorn's wealth for themselves, and letting the other city-states suffer. Kaon is a perfect example. Starscream," Spitfire turned to him. "You've been to Kaon. What do you think about these Decepticons?"

"Uh, I…" Starscream tried to stall as he thought up a response. "I agree that the Decepticons have the right idea. The Autobots have grown complacent and corrupt. A little change wouldn't be a bad thing."

"Oh for Primus's sake," Skyfire swore, "not you to."

"I also see a lot of Kaonians wearing the purple insignia of a Decepticon," Starscream admitted. "But Skyfire's not wrong either. They have good intentions, and bad methods."

"What do you think they're going to do?" Spitfire whined. "Start a war against the Autobots? Ha!"

The sheer ludicrously of that idea made all three Seekers smile. At that point in time, they truly did not believe that outcome was possible. It made them laugh, and the laughter diffused the tension. They dropped the subject of the Decepticons.

"Starscream," Skyfire asked. "How do you plan to upgrade those rifles if you don't know how to shoot them?"

"I know the theories, and the parts that make it up," Starscream shrugged. "It should be fine."

"No way," Spitfire interrupted. "If you try and mod those things without actually shooting them you're just going to make it worse."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Starscream replied sarcastically.

Skyfire snickered, and Spitfire shot his twin a glare.

"You need to learn how to shoot," Spitfire grinned. "And while the Air Warriors might be too busy, I'm not. There's this Seeker named Nightwing that runs his own shooting range. A lot of Air Warriors practice there. He taught me how to shoot. I can teach you."

"Thanks for the offer," Starscream said, "but I'm a scientist. I don't mind a little blood sport, but I'm no warrior."

"If you want to be a good scientist then you need to learn to shoot," Spitfire edged on.

"You might as well give up already," Skyfire warned. "Spitfire can be very persistent."

"You bet," Spitfire took it like a compliment. "I talked Skyfire into letting me show him how to shoot, and he hates blood sports."

Starscream glanced briefly at Skyfire, but it seemed he was cornered. "All right. Since I'm working on upgrading rifles I suppose it makes sense that I should know how to use one."

"Neat," Spitfire nodded. "You can't borrow my rifle like with Skyfire, so I'll just get you one free of charge. Not a shoulder-mounted rifle like the Air Warriors have. Those things aren't for beginner shooters, but I get you a normal blaster from Kaon easy."

Skyfire muttered something along the lines of "black market."

Spitfire shooed it off. "I never said anything about the black market. Nightwing also has blasters you can borrow if you want."

"Borrowing one is fine," Starscream agreed.

"Spitfire," Skyfire finally spoke up. "Perhaps you could go talk to Nightwing about this now?"

"I could," Spitfire admitted. At Skyfire's glare he said, "I'm going."

With a wave at Starscream, he vanished. Starscream was left staring at the door.

"Sorry about him," Skyfire sighed. "He's pretty enthusiastic, and a little hard to get used to."

"He means well, like those Decepticons," Starscream shrugged.

"You do agree with the Decepticons," Skyfire said. It wasn't a question.

"I know that the Autobots like having absolute control over Cybertron," Starscream offered. "They hate Vos, because it's energy-rich enough that it can function independently. Emperor Sunstrike and Empress Ravensong work hard to ensure our freedom from Iacon's say. I can't imagine the Autobots like these Decepticons any more then they like us Seekers. It's just another threat to them."

Skyfire knew that Starscream was correct about Vos's standing with Iacon. "Do you really think things might turn into a shooting war? A war on Cybertron doesn't sound possible."

"No it doesn't," Starscream agreed.

The doors to Skyfire's lab suddenly hissed open again.

Skyfire banged his head on the desk without looking to see who it was. "Why are you back already? I thought you were going to make yourself scarce."

"I can leave if you want to," a feminine voice said. "Finishing up plotting out those stars can wait."

Skyfire looked up. It was a femme Seeker colored sapphire blue with gold highlights, and deep magenta optics.

"Sorry Cybren," Skyfire sighed. "I thought you were-"

"Spitfire?" Cybren asked with an amused look.

Skyfire nodded. He glanced over at Starscream, and looked curiously. Starscream was still in front of the star map, only now he was staring at Cybren.

"Are you Starscream?" Cybren asked him. "Skyfire told us how he made you crash."

Starscream merely nodded rather than stutter a reply.

"Cybren, I'm the computer geek of the team," she introduced with a smile.

Skyfire looked at Starscream's expression and then back to Cybren. He realized rather quickly that his visitor _liked_ Cybren. Well, Cybren was beautiful and she didn't currently have a bondmate.

Cybren set her datapadd on the table and hooked it up to a group of three computer screens. She started typing and bringing up programs, but stopped when she realized Starscream was watching her. Curiously, she turned and looked up at Starscream. Her wings perked up to mimic her mood.

Mood wings, was the thought that got through to Starscream. Cybren had mood wings. That wasn't very common. When he realized that she was looking at him, he looked away back to the starchart.

Cybren gave Skyfire a knowing look, but he only shrugged. This was not a set-up. He had no idea Starscream would get so flustered by her.

"Starscream," Skyfire offered.

Starscream hummed, and tried to sneak another glance at Cybren as he pretended to look at the chart.

"You said you were going to show me how amazing of a disaster zone your lab was," Skyfire made up.

"I did?" Starscream asked.

"Yes," Skyfire bluffed strongly. "Come on."

"Right," Starscream said, but he didn't move.

Skyfire would have rolled his eyes if he could as he walked over, grabbed Starscream's arm, and half-dragged the tri-colored Seeker out of his lab. Cybren waved a small goodbye in amusement, and Starscream returned it. Then the doors closed. Starscream was left staring at the doors, lost in his own dream world.

"All right lover boy," Skyfire sighed, "Where's your lab?"

"East wing, upper floors, we're in the west wing right now," Starscream relayed the information out of instinct. "Hey, what's with lover boy?"

"Finally noticed," Skyfire teased.

If Starscream could blush then he would be quite red. As it was the metal on his cheekplates did seem several shades darker grey then before.

"I-do-not-like-Cybren,"Starscream carefully pronounced each word.

When Skyfire didn't say anything, he turned and stalked back to his lab.

"She doesn't have a bondmate right now," Skyfire called out as he started walking after Starscream.

"Quiet!" Starscream shouted over his shoulder.

Skyfire merely chuckled.

That was a pleasant time. Starscream had become a partial addition to Skyfire's team after that, and everyone liked having him around. Skyfire still believed that the only reason he spent so much time there was because Cybren was there.

What Skyfire did not want was to have both his brother and his oldest friend Decepticons. He did not want to fight either of them, and now they were both his enemies. They were Decepticons, and he was an Autobot. Skyfire felt trapped.

Skyfire reluctantly sat up in his recharging bunk. He remembered Spitfire calling him a traitor, while over the comm Starscream told Spitfire to shoot his brother – and Spitfire had. His chest still hurt from the shot, and maybe from something more.

Although he was reluctant, Skyfire got up and opened his door. The hallway outside was empty. It was a small mercy. He did a self-check as he walked down the hall. Apparently he was fit for flight. Good. What Skyfire needed was a nice long flight. Being in the clouds, and feeling the air rush around his form would help clear his mind.

"Hi ya Skyfire," a voice said.

Skyfire jumped and looked up to see Smokescreen leaning against the hallway a little farther down.

"Smokescreen," Skyfire greeted with relief. He was glad it wasn't Sideswipe.

"Didn't mean to spook ya," Smokescreen offered.

"I know," Skyfire nodded. "I was just doing a self-scan."

"Going flying?" Smokescreen asked.

"Yes," Skyfire admitted, "but I don't really have a destination."

Smokescreen nodded in understanding. Every Autobot had their own tricks for calming down. It made sense that a Seeker would want to fly.

"You're not going to ask me about Spitfire?" Skyfire asked sarcastically as he walked by.

Smokescreen pushed off the wall and tagged after him. "I'm curious. So is everyone else, but he's your brother. It's personal."

His tone was not hostile or prying, but Skyfire knew he was fishing for information. Anything he said would be reported straight back to Prime. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Skyfire sighed deeply.

"It is," Skyfire agreed, "but he's on Earth now so it's not _just_ my concern."

Smokescreen's optics brightened in surprise, but since Skyfire looked away it seemed he missed it. Was Skyfire actually going to say something? He had been one big white enigma ever since he had joined the Autobots. All Smokescreen knew was that Skyfire didn't want to fight Starscream because the memory of their friendship, but did so since he had no choice.

"Spitfire joined the Decepticons shortly after Megatron took over and militarized it so it was more than just a political party," Skyfire explained. "I didn't want him to, and I couldn't believe it when he came back one day with a Decepticon insignia on his chest. We fought, he stormed out. Starscream scolded me for being so volatile with him, and that it wasn't that big of a deal. At that time, neither of us thought that the Decepticons would cause much trouble. How wrong that was…"

Skyfire was talking about the time back when he and Starscream were friends! That was the last thing Smokescreen had expected, but he didn't dare interrupt in case Skyfire shut up. Unexpectedly, Skyfire fell silent, and Smokescreen had to nudge him to keep speaking.

"According to Wheeljack, Spitfire mentioned that you were going to join the 'Cons," Smokescreen nudged.

"I didn't want to end up on the opposite of Spitfire," Skyfire shrugged. "I never liked the Decepticons, but he was family. I did join the Decepticons as you well know. It didn't work out. Even if Megatron allowed me to rejoin the Decepticons it still wouldn't work. I'm just not a warrior. I can't kill."

Skyfire laughed softly. It was unexpected. Smokescreen wondered what he was going to say next.

"Spitfire called me a traitor to, did Wheeljack mention that?" Skyfire asked him.

"He did," Smokescreen admitted. "You were a Decepticon and then you betrayed them, so it's hardly unexpected."

"I doubt Spitfire knows that I ever joined the Decepticons," Skyfire disagreed.

"Then why would he call you a traitor? Just because you joined the Autobots?" Smokescreen asked.

"Exactly," Skyfire touched the Autobot insignia on his chest. "That's exactly why. Spitfire doesn't care if I betrayed the Decepticons. In fact, I suspect that he would understand why I could never wear their colors. No, I've betrayed Vos by joining you Autobots."

"How?" Smokescreen asked incredulously.

"The Seekers of Vos joined the Decepticons after the royal family was murdered," Skyfire reminded him. "I'm likely the only Vosian who has joined the Autobots."

Now Smokescreen understood a little. "The Seekers think that we Autobots killed their royal family, so they joined the 'Cons. You joined the ones they that killed their leaders. By doing so you betrayed the memory of Sunstrike, Ravensong, and Warsong. Do you think we killed them?"

"I did initially," Skyfire said. "That's what Starscream told me, and what he believes. I've seen you Autobots however. You aren't killers."

"So you think we're innocent," Smokescreen risked asking.

"If I thought you Autobots killed them then I wouldn't one of your insignias," Skyfire's voice was tart. "I'd go neutral and might end up with my brother anyway."

Smokescreen mused all of that over.

"How's Chip doing?" Skyfire asked. "I know a Seeker shot at him at the museum."

Smokescreen let the subject switch slide. "He's fine. The Seeker who shot him only shot his wheelchair. Chip wasn't hurt except for some bruises, a banged head, and a sprained wrist. It could have been a lot worse if. Chip's lucky that the Seeker wasn't in a mood to kill."

Skyfire made a disgusted noise. "I hardly recognize the Seekers nowadays. They've changed so much since this war began, and not in a good way. Vos has always been a warrior city-state, but they use to value honor and loyalty. Now the Decepticon Seekers do the exact opposite."

Skyfire was downright talkative today, Smokescreen mused. "Well, when they're with a crowd like Megatron it's probably hard to be honorable."

Skyfire supposed.

"Something interesting though," Smokescreen offered. "The Seeker that spared Chip was one of those new ones that Wingstar leads."

"One of Wingstar's wing?" Skyfire mused. "I saw a little of his duel with Sideswipe. He did not use any dirty tricks, although Sideswipe shot him in the back. Maybe there are a few good Seekers left after all."

"Oh," Smokescreen added as if an afterthought. "Prime wants to talk to you."

Skyfire would have groaned if he hadn't been expecting that. "When you repeat Prime everything I've said, just tell him that nothing's changed. If I have to fight my brother I will, just like with Starscream."

"I wasn't going to tell Prime anything," Smokescreen lied.

"Of course not," Skyfire said neutrally. He knew better.

Smokescreen was surprised that he'd been figured out, but let Skyfire leave and fly off. Prime would be interested in this.

* * *

A. **I'm sorry about the delay. I'm adapting to life as a college freshman and finals are coming up.**

B. **According to his profile, Smokescreen uses his " _naturally friendly and sociable nature to get in close with his Autobot comrades... then reports back to Optimus Prime_." That is a direct quote from TF wiki, and i say that right now so no one gets made at me for making stuff up about the Autobots.**

C. **Right now, my story is somewhat of a generic Seeker fanfiction. If you have read some of my other stories then you know i hate generic, so I hope later posts will not be generic. I'll let you tell me once its posted.**


	9. Wingless Grounder

Spitfire dropped off his passengers as he circled around the docking tower of their Decepticon ship, and then came back and landed himself once the platform cleared off. He entered the lift with the other four Seekers that would take him down into the ship, and the lift began to move.

Darksky was holding a small black diamond in his hand, looking at it curiously. That jewel had been the entire reason for the battle. It left Spitfire befuddled. Why would Megatron waste time and energon trying to track down one little crystal?

Next to Spitfire, Starscream was also looking at the jewel Darksky had swiped. It had been Wingstar's idea for Darksky to hang back and retrieve the diamond while the other Seekers distracted the Autobots. As Wingstar's plan it was only natural that Wingstar's wing would present the prize to Megatron.

Starscream still looked enviously at the jewel. This was a perfect chance for him to get some credit with Megatron but those cadets were going to beat him to it! They were very skilled, and Wingstar was likeable and a good leader – a dangerous combination. If the new cadets kept up their current successes then Megatron might start to like Wingstar more than him, and something Starscream did not want to happen.

Darksky noticed Starscream eyeing the diamond he held, and held it out to him.

"Here," he told Starscream. "You can present it to Megatron."

Starscream looked floored by Darksky's generosity, and quickly swiped the diamond. Dakysky didn't look like he minded losing the jewel and the chance to earn Megatron's favor. Wingstar and Darksky glanced at each other, likely speaking over the telepathic bond between wingmates. He didn't appear upset by Darksky's decision either.

The doors opened and the Seekers got out of the lift. Megatron was waiting there for them. A small purple Seeker sat on one of the control stations, kicking his heels against the air. He grinned at Darksky and Wingstar and waved very childishly at them, leaving Spitfire to correctly assume he was the third member of their wing.

Starscream walked over to Megatron and presented him with the black diamond. "One diamond as promised."

Megatron looked vaguely surprised that they had managed to get the jewel. He took the diamond and appraised it, but his optics could not detect any damage.

"Nicely done Starscream," Megatron said as he walked off with the jewel.

Starscream smiled. He looked pleased with himself, and went ahead to the medbay with Thundercracker following.

The purple seeker jumped down, and started chatting with Darksky and Wingstar when they neared him. He and his wing began to head to the medbay where Wingstar could get his injuries looked over. Thundercracker trailed after the three.

Megatron didn't acknowledge Spitfire or the fact that he had disobeyed a direct order and engaged the Autobots. The Decepticons had won, so there was no reason for Megatron to be upset. Had they lost, then he would have a very different attitude.

Spitfire hadn't suffered any damage, but still followed the other Seekers. Seekers were social creatures as their ability to form wings demonstrated, and he suddenly didn't want to be alone with his thoughts about his brother.

As he walked behind the cadets, he noticed them chatting. The purple one looked surprised about what Wingstar said, but then nodded and smiled. It seemed that he agreed with their decision to give up the diamond and the chance to earn Megatron's approval. That was bizarre.

TC and Starscream were already being looked at by the time the cadets entered. Scrapper was overlooking Starscream, and Hook was inspecting TC's injuries. There was quite a bit of distance between Starscream and TC, and Skywarp hovered near TC with a bored persona.

"Hey!" Spitfire finally spoke up to the cadets before the Constructions started fixing them up. "What's up with you guys?"

The three stopped walking. Wingstar smiled, and he exchanged grins with the others.

"You mean with the diamond?" He shrugged. "What of it?"

"You could have gotten in some huge points with Megatron," Spitfire asked, "Why didn't you? Why let Starscream get all the credit?"

"Why not?" Wingstar laughed lightly. "It's not that important."

"What do you mean?" Spitfire asked in confusion.

"We don't care who Megatron likes better," the purple Seeker sighed. "It really doesn't matter. I'm Amethyst by the way."

Spitfire didn't acknowledge Amethyst. He looked from one cadet to another in confusion.

"Why does everything have to be about favors?" Darksky asked innocently. "Why is everyone fighting over power or the favor of some wingless grounder that isn't even from Vos?"

There was heavy disdain in his voice when he mentioned the wingless grounder, and Spitfire realized that he was talking about Megatron. Not just talking about Megatron – insulting him. His wingmates seemed to agree with Darksky on their opinion about Megatron. These three might just be cadets, but Primus were they brave.

"We're all on the same side after all," Wingstar continued with a shrug. "We and the rest of the Seekers fight to defeat the Autobots who killed the royal family, and destroyed Vos. As long as Optimus Prime dies then who cares which one our dear Lord likes better?"

Skywarp actually snickered here. It seemed none of the cadets were scared of Megatron's wrath. They'd learn later, the hard way undoubtedly, that Megatron was not someone you fought against.

"You think we should be scared of Megatron?" Darksky challenged Spitfire. "Your thoughts are quite vivid on that matter."

Spitfire's optics brightened in shock. He hadn't realized it before, but it was now dead silent in the medbay. The Seekers, Constructions, and the other Decepticons present were watching. How did that cadet know what he had been thinking?

"He's a tep," Amethyst explained as he lightly kicked Darksky behind the leg.

"Why should we be scared of him?" Wingstar asked. "He's our commanding officer, not our enemy. Besides, you've seen two of us in battle. Do you really think the three of us couldn't handle ourselves against one Decepticon?"

Wingstar's words were suddenly perilously close to treason.

"You also expect us to be at odds with the Air Commander," Wingstar shook his head. "Why should we fight against Starscream? He's' a Seeker just like us. The Seekers joined the Decepticons to defeat the Autobots, not squabble over power among ourselves. Is gaining Megatron's favor really more important than teaching the Autobots a lesson for killing our royal family?"

You could almost hear the Seekers present take in a collective breath.

"Have you all gotten so caught up in the power struggle of the Decepticons that you forgot the real reason why we fight?" Wingstar accused the gathered Seekers quietly. Hate and a sudden strike of disappointment hissed into his voice. "I want to make the Autobots pay for killing our leaders and reducing Vos to ruins. My loyalty is to Vos and the royal family that was murdered. Where do yours lie?"

 _*Wingstar!*_ Darksky snapped telepathically. _*Drop it! You're going to get us in trouble with Megatron!*_

 _*Who cares?!*_ Wingstar spat back. _*The Seekers are so blind! They've all forgotten what we were like before. What we stood for before and what we could do! They almost deserve to lose to the Autobots! They're nothing more than monsters that play along to Megatron's whims.*_

 _*If you keep this up you could get us marked for treason*_ Darksky continued smoothly _. *Wait. If Megatron gets upset enough he could send us back to Cybertron_ and _Shockwave. If he does that then someone might realize that our transfer orders were faked and that we never went to the Decepticon's training Acadamy.*_

Wingstar tssked as if he was disappointed by the Seekers, and looked away. Darksky and Amethyst were both relieved that Wingstar shushed. The gathered Seekers were clearly surprised by Wingstar's attack on Megatron, and on themselves.

 _Spitfire remembered before the war seeing Prince Warsong sitting on Skyfire's shoulder, and speaking to both him and Skyfire's new friend Starscream. The Prince had a kind smile, and his exotic silver optics were bright with joy and warmth. When Spitfire had offered to show Warsong how to shoot a blaster the prince had looked surprised, but then smiled and nodded excitedly._

 _"_ _Sounds like fun," he laughed. "Then I can become a great warrior to, just like Starscream."_

 _Starscream had been caught offguard by the statement, and Warsong had pointed to Starscream's new shoulder-mounted rifles._

 _Warsong smiled at Starscream. "I'll get strong enough to protect you. You protected me, my family, and Vos all by yourself. I'll do that to."_

 _Starscream's features softened into a smile. "I'm sure you will."_

 _Warsong's expression brightened at Starscream's compliment, and he eagerly looked between Skyfire and Spitfire. The brothers had exchanged smiles._

Warong had not deserved to die. Spitfire had joined the Decepticons long before the royal family's demise, but it was only after their death that Starscream had adopted the Decepticon badge. He had been regent to Vos's royal family – their trusted second in command.

When Starscream had stood before the flaming palace he had looked up at Spitfire.

 _"_ _I failed them," was all Starscream said._

 _The flames continued to devour the palace, and Starscream carefully knelt and picked up a cylindrical hilt. It was small, made for a lytling. When activated it would produce a silver blade made of plasma._

 _It was a lightsword, one of two that Starscream had made for Warsong. They had been customized to Warsong's spark so that only he could activate them. He had been a terror in training, wielding one in each hand. His skills had not been enough to save his life that night._

 _Something caught Spitfire's eye amid the ruins, and he recognized it as a blaster. Its powerpack was nearly drained from being fired so many times. Hatred surged through him when he realized that it was an Autobot blaster._

The Seekers had joined the Decepticons to avenge Warsong's needless death at the hands of the Autobots. Wingstar said nothing more, and he let Hook lead him to a bed so he could check his injuries.

Skyfire, Spitfire thought quietly. How could you betray Warsong by joining the Autobots? You were his friend to, weren't you? No, you're nothing but a traitor…

Spitfire didn't need medical attention so he backed out of the medbay before one of the Constructicons could drag him over for an exam. He _hated_ the medbay, and suddenly he didn't want to be around the other Seekers.

Skywarp watched the new Seeker slip away before a Constructicon spotted him. He knew that hatred of medbays anywhere. There were actually a lot of Seekers who didn't like the medbay.

He might have pondered why that was if five Transformers didn't suddenly all enter the medbay at once, shouting and shoving and waving their blasters around. Skywarp was startled enough that he almost teleported out of instinct, and the rest of the inhabitants also jumped when the quiet was shattered. Wingstar partially drew his sword, but when he saw who the intruders were he shoved the blade back into its scabbard. It was the Stunticons, all five of them.

 _*What are they doing here?*_ Skywarp asked Thundercracker over their telepathic link as wingmates.

 _*Search me*_ TC answered helplessly. _*They aren't supposed to return for a month.*_

The answer presented itself soon enough as the Stunticons settled down just enough for everyone to see their injuries. If the damage to Breakdown, Dragstrip, Motormaster, and Wildrider was any indication they had likely been hosting their own demolition derby – again. Since there was no medic on their team, they always trooped back to the ship to have their dents banged out and got in everyone's way until they were healed enough to leave.

Skywarp was not in the mood to deal with Motormouth, ahem, Motormaster, so he waved goodbye to TC and teleported back to his room. TC scowled at the spot where Skywarp previously was, annoyed that he had been ditched. Unlike Skywarp, TC had to stay for repairs courtesy of Powerglide. He'd make sure to pay Powerglide back for making him deal with the Stunticons.

Dead End started whining as usual and terrorized the nearest Constructicon, Hook, to help him. He'd apparently been driving at high speeds and an organic creature called a deer had run out in front of him. Pieces of bone, fur, shredded meat, and blood stained his armor. Apparently some of the organic junk had gotten inside his armor when he had transformed and he hated it.

Hook finally told Dead End to more or less sit down, shut up, and wait his turn. Dead End shut up and sat on an empty bunk in a huff. The other Stunticons were being less cooperative, and the Constructicons were starting to get exasperated. Usually everyone listened to them because they were the only real medics here, and if they didn't they ran the risk of the Constructicons turning into Devastator. Devastator was, unfortunately, not a valid threat to another gesalt team.

While the volume in the normally quiet medbay continued to rise, a blue cassette poked his head around the corner of the entryway and grinned. It was Rumble, and he was happy to see the Stunticons. The humans of this world had many things that Rumble loved, and his current favorite was the paintball gun. He'd managed to commandeer two paintball guns and Frenzy had modified them so the Cassettes could fire them. Mixmaster had whipped up some paint.

They had not yet been used because Rumble and Frenzy had not yet seen a good target. Now however, Rumble was looking at five prime targets that needed to be knocked down a few notches. He slipped away from the medbay and made for Soundwave's security center where Frenzy would be. It was time to test the paintball guns.

* * *

 **Yes, Rumble and Frenzy are chaos makers of the Decepticon base. I'm sure that's nothing new for you. Let's see if I can surprise you with the next chapter.**

 **You also heard Darksky correctly. Like they were accused of by Skywarp in the first chapter, they did actually forge the transfer orders and records. Even Nightwing's authorization and comments were forged. Darksky is a Cyberspace master. They're hiding the fact that they're technically not Decepticons, but why? If they get found out they'll obviously get turned into slag by Megatron, but why else? Considering they don't mind killing Autobots I doubt they're spies for Optimus, so who are they? Why are they scared of being returned to Cybertron where Shockwave is?**

 **Hmmm... I'll let you wonder until the next update.**


	10. A Harmless Prank

Soundwave opened the door to the security room when Rumble neared, and Rumble happily entered. Rumble, like all of his Cassettes, had a telepathic and empathic bond both with his guardian, Soundwave, and Soundwave's other Cassettes. Through this bond he tracked down Frenzy in an adjoining room.

He found his brother, the youngest of all of Soundwave's Cassettes, sitting on the floor checking the scope of one of the paintball guns. The other one lie beside him. Frenzy didn't look away from his work at Rumble's appearance, and Rumble didn't interrupt Frenzy.

Frenzy rarely joined his brother and fellow cassettes on the battlefield, so he had learned to make himself useful with an impressive knowledge of weapons and the ability to engineer them better. He wasn't like Wheeljack, who, according to Laserbeak, was constantly blowing up his lab trying to invent new weapons, but he knew how to make a good rifle better. Once he was satisfied with the scope, Frenzy lowered the rifle onto his lap and looked up at Rumble. His hands were shaking slightly from handling a weapon and looking though the scope with a finger on the trigger as if he was actually going to fire it.

"Are you sure?" He asked Rumble seriously.

Rumble nodded, not put off by Frenzy's seriousness. It was no coincidence that Frenzy had been checking over the paintball rifles when he had showed up. He had told Frenzy telepathically about their new mission once he had left the medbay.

Frenzy looked down at the rifle in his lap. The paintball rifles were identical, refitted with a grey colored Cybertronian alloy in place of the weak iron humans used. The rifle in his lap was his, and it had been accented with a few red and black stripes. Rumble's sitting next to him had blue stripes.

Rumble picked up his paintball rifle and went to fetch the ammo for them. He slung the rifle over his right shoulder and took down the paintballs Mixmaster had prepared. One set was blue and the other red, so in theory, the Cassettes could compete with each other and see who landed more hits.

"Are you sure?" Frenzy repeated in a much quieter voice then the first time he had voiced his question.

Rumble turned with the paintballs in his arms, and saw at once that Frenzy was scared. He was looking down at the rifle in his lap, fingers curled into fists, shoulders hunched. This surprised Rumble a little bit since he couldn't feel Frenzy's distress through their bond, but decided that it was likely because Frenzy had had far too much practice at hiding his true emotions.

"I'm sure," Rumble repeated and walked over. "You'll be fine. These aren't real weapons, just toys. There's no way you can actually hurt the Stunticons with them. All we're going to do anyway is run them out of the base because the longer they're here the more of a hassle it will be for everyone."

Frenzy didn't lift his head from the rifle and Rumble sat down next to his sibling. He reached over and removed the rifle from Frenzy's lap. With the source of his distress out of sight, Frenzy lifted his head to Rumble.

"You'll be fine," Rumble repeated with a sure smile. "This is just like firing blanks for all the damage it will cause. You can manage that."

Frenzy looked away, and Rumble started to load both rifles.

"Besides," Rumble mentioned as he slid a cartridge of red paintballs into Frenzy's rifle. "It's kind of weird for a Decepticon to be gun-shy. You need to get some control over this."

"I'm not gun-shy," Frenzy snapped sharper then he meant. "You know I can't control it. What if I slip up? I could kill one of the Stunticons, or you. If I'm going to kill anyone it would be you since you're going to be right next to me."

Rumble set a hand on Frenzy's shoulder and dragged his brother so they were facing each other. "You're not going to kill anyone. No one is going to be hurt. Not be the guns, and not by you. This will work fine, and you need to practice control."

Frenzy didn't answer while Rumble loaded his rifle and slung it back over his shoulder. Rumble stood, and held out a hand to Frenzy. After a little hesitation, Frenzy took it and Rumble pulled him to his feet. Hesitation sang through his systems again when Rumble held out the loaded paintball rifle to him.

Frenzy's hand danced a little away form the gun before he finally managed to muster up the courage and take it from his brother. Rumble nodded, and broke out into an exceedingly mischievous grin at the chaos they were soon going to cause. No one liked having those obnoxious Stunticons here, so for the first time in a long time, the Decpticons would be rooting the brothers on.

Rumble turned and lifted the cover off of a maintenance shaft so they could get to the ambush point for the Stunticons. The two of them normally traveled by the shafts because they were the only Decepticons small enough to fit in them, and it gave they an excellent chance at sneaking up on their target for an ambush. He set the cover next to the shaft and ducked inside.

When he realized Frenzy wasn't behind him, Rumble poked his head back out.

"Come on," he told Frenzy. "Scrapper's going to help direct the Stunticons to the ambush site and we want to be there before they arrive."

Frenzy steeled his courage and nodded. Rumble ducked back inside the shaft, and Frenzy took a few seconds to take both of the blaster off his back and set them on the ground. If his control did slip, then he didn't want to be armed. It was dangerous to wander around the Decepticon base without a real weapon, but Frenzy trusted that they wouldn't run into trouble and if they did then Rumble could get them both out of there and back to the safety of Soundwave.

Frenzy ducked into the shaft entrance and set his rifle beside him. He reached over and tugged the cover back into place with a click. Once the cover locked, Frenzy slung his rifle over a shoulder like he had seen Rumble do and started crawling through the shaft after his brother.

* * *

The repaired Stunticons, minus Dead End, walked in a gaggle down one of the hallways of the crashed starship. Since Scrapper had shooed them out of the medbay, they were on their way to the common room. They would be able to pick up some energon there, kick back, and relax while their auto-repair systems finished repairing the damage. Technically, they could leave right now, but they didn't want to.

Their complaining had forced the Constructicons to stop repairing the Seekers injured in the battle, and repair them first. The sooner they were fixed the sooner Scrapper could make them leave. With them gone, the Constructicons were finally able to get back to repairing the injured Seekers.

The four of them walked loudly down the metal hall, teasing and occasionally hitting each other. Motormaster did not partake in his groups actions, and walked in front of them. He was not distracted as the others were and so he realized that his comm system was picking up static.

It had been doing that for a while now. Whenever he neared another Decepticon that was not part of his gesalt, static buzzed. His communicator's glitch was the reason he had wanted to see the Constructicons, and he was surprised to see that the problem hadn't been fixed.

The communicator was telling him that there was another Decepticon approaching, and approaching fast. No, there were two Decepticons. He expected to see someone in the hallway when he turned a corner and was surprised to find it was empty. There were no other Decepticons.

His communicator's static was getting louder though. Was it no longer detecting the frequency the main Decepticon force used and rejecting it? He was confused, and looked around the hallway as the gesalt walked. There was still no one in sight.

He didn't understand until he saw a maintenance cover on the upper right side of the hallway. Then Motormaster got an all too sneaking suspicion. Was it the Cassettes who had planted firecrackers under his recharging bunk not too long ago? Were they up to something again? Motormaster said nothing to his group in case he was wrong, but readied himself to draw his blaster.

The group walked past the maintenance shaft entrance without trouble, and the static in Motormaster's communicator got quieter as he walked by the two Decepticons he was now sure were hiding in there. Why hadn't they attacked? As it turned out, Rumble was just waiting for the Stunticons to pass them by.

Once their footsteps passed their perch, Rumble looked at Frenzy and his brother nodded. Rumble smiled and unlocked the hatch, pushing it into open air and snatching up his rifle he had set next to him. Frenzy raised his own paintball gun the instant the cover began to fall and focused on the Stunticons. His finger was on the trigger, and he pulled it just as the cover hit the ground with a spectacular clatter.

The noise frightened the Stunticons, and made them turn around – right where the cassettes were aiming. All but one of the four Stunticons raised their arms over their heads and started yelling as blue and red shots rained down on them. Motormaster did not, and he drew his blaster with a triumphant smile, raised, and fire it. This would teach those cassettes for the firecrackers.

The shot from his blaster was live, and it hit Frenzy in the shoulder. Frenzy jerked from the shot and the pain that followed, and slipped. He had been kneeling, his foot right on the edge of the shaft entrance, and he now found himself falling forward. Rumble felt Frenzy's peril and looked up from the rifle as Frenzy started to fall out of the shaft.

He dropped the gun, and grabbed Frenzy's arm but found all too quickly that he wasn't in the best position either. Frenzy's weight pulled him off balance and Rumble now both of them were falling. Motormaster lowered his blaster satisfactorily as the two cassettes fell out of the shaft and onto the ground of the hallway in a heap.

Rumble's paintball rifle fell from the shaft and bounced off his head, making him wince.

"Oh no," he whispered when he saw the situation he had gotten them into.

The Stunticons lowered their arms and looked at the brothers with murder in their crimson optics. Motormaster holstered his blaster and drew his longsword from subspace with a shrill note. Rumble dragged Frenzy to his feet and tugged him back so they were against the wall with one hand as he drew one of his blasters with the other. There was no way they could outrun them, and if they tried to jump back into the shaft the Stunticons would shoot them down.

Maybe this hadn't been such a good plan after all… What to do? He needed a plan, now!

Someone pointed their rifle at the ceiling and fired, and the sound of the shot echoed around the hallway. The murderous Stunticons and terrified Cassettes looked down the hallway. It was not Soundwave as the cassettes had hoped, but Wingstar's wingmates.

Amethyst lowered his shoulder-mounted rifle, the gun still smoking from his shot.

"What exactly is going on?" Amethyst asked in a confused and not so polite voice.

The Stunticons looked away from Rumble and Frenzy, and Amethyst snickered when he saw them covered in red and blue paint. He put a hand to his mouth but ended up bursting out in laughter anyway. His action did not soothe the disgruntled Stunticons.

"Oh stars! Those two really got you!" Amethyst said as he laughed, trying not to fall off his feet. "If those had been live rounds you'd be dead!"

While Amethyst kept the Stunticons attention on him, Darksky reached out telepathically to the brothers. _*You two seem all right. You're lucky that I've been training with Soundwave so much.*_

 _*Very lucky*_ Rumble agreed.

Darksky's telepathic training with Soundwave had inadvertently led to him forming a slight telepathic bond with Soundwave, and somehow with his cassettes. Rumble had no doubt that the artificial link was what had alerted Darksky that they were in trouble. With Wingstar being repaired by the Constructicons Darksky had only been able to bring Amethyst with him, but even that little bit of help was helpful. The new wing had proven they were a group to be feared already, so maybe they would be of more than a little help.

Rumble reached out to Frenzy behind him without looking away, but Frenzy had his link clouded so there was no way for him to be sure how he was doing. If this situation got any more worse then Frenzy's control might lapse. That would end badly for everyone, especially for Frenzy.

Whatever those two were going to do, Rumble hoped it would work.

...

 **Amethyst doesn't know where to stop be it shutting up or lowering his blaster when ordered, and that's about to come in real handy. Do you really think this is going to end without a firefight? Four on two plus the cassettes. Who stands a better chance of victory?**


	11. Frenzied

"Insolent brat," Motormaster snarled at Amethyst under his breath while Amethyst continued to laugh.

"Insolent?" Amethyst stopped laughing and rubbed the back of his helm absentmindedly, looking at the ceiling. "I forget. What does that word mean?"

Darksky would have rolled his optics had he been human at Amethyst's casual comment, but settled for whapping the back of one of his wings with his hand. Amethyst gave him an innocent look and shrugged as if he didn't understand why he deserved that. He might be purposely acting to rile the Stunticons, but knowing Amethyst it was equally likely he _had_ forgotten what the word insolent meant.

Motormaster forwent the sword and raised his blaster towards Amethyst. Darksky stepped in front of his wingmate and shook his head.

 _*Bad move alpha*_ Darksky warned telepathically and smiled.

Then he hit Motormaster with a mindflare, placing the sensation of pain right into his mind. Although Wingstar and his wing had not been to the Decepticon's training academy as their forged papers said, the wing did know how to deal with Combiners. You take out the Combiner that formed the chest to keep them from merging, and Darksky had learned something else that was very interesting from Wingstar's guardian. If you dropped the "alpha" of the group with a mindflare the others would also feel the pain.

He had never had a chance to test out the technique before, but happily did so now. Motormaster was the alpha of the gesalt, so all the other Stunticons answered to him. As he was the dominant one, when Motormaster dropped to one knee clenching his helm the other three Stunticons with him did something similar. It was working.

Amethyst stepped around Wingstar and quickly motioned to the cornered cassette brothers to run over to them. Rumble knew that Darksky was attacking telepathically, but he wasn't sure how. It wasn't important however, and he grabbed Frenzy's wrist and half-dragged his dazed brother closer to the wingmates. Frenzy was trying to stop his sensory input from the situation, and Rumble knew that wasn't good.

Darksky didn't have the stamina to keep the attack working for long, and he had overlooked one small detail. Wildrider was insane. Many thought he was acting to increase his street cred, but he in all honesty _wasn't_. His mind was unstable, and he wasn't able to correctly register pain, even the telepathic pain Darksky was indirectly inflicting him with.

Wildrider and the other Stunticons had managed to draw their blasters, and through the foggy sensation of pain Wildrider raised his blaster. He couldn't get a clear shot at Darksky with his wingmate in front of him, so he shot at the cassettes. His shot came so close to Frenzy it skimmed his cheek and made him flinch away, but it did not miss Rumble.

Rumble's step faltered as Wildrider's shot hit him square in the back, and came perilously close to his sparkchamber. Frenzy stared in horror as Rumble stumbled and fell in front of him. Pink energon that functioned similar to human blood splattered across Frenzy's glasses and he stopped running towards the seekers.

Not good, Darksky thought when he saw Frenzy freeze and look at his brother lying on the ground. Darksky knew about Frenzy's extra programming and he didn't doubt that it was about to activate. Amethyst fired a shot from his rifle at Wildrider, but his specialty was dogfighting and shooting from the ground in his root mode was very different from in the air as a jet.

His shot skimmed the back of Wildrider's hand holding the blaster, and Frenzy flinched at the sound of it discharging. The pulse of his spark was loud in his audios. He curled his fingers to his palms as he looked at Rumble. Even though he knew his brother was alive through the bond between the siblings, he wasn't aware of it over the fact that Rumble had been shot.

Darksky cringed as his control on the mindflare wavered. He wasn't meant to be able to hold it this long, and he fell into a fighting stance as his energy waned. Their attempt to rescue the brothers had taken too long, and Motormaster smiled as he realized Darksky was struggling.

* _Should I shoot them_?* Amethyst asked in an unusually serious voice, one of his rifles pointed at the Stunticons.

* _You'll get in trouble with Megatron if you kill them_ * Darksky scolded.

 _*I don't care what that wingless grounder has to say*_ Amethyst dismissed. _*Should I Sky?*_

Amethyst's question was answered unexpectedly when Frenzy ran at the paralyzed Stunticons. Energon splattered across the wall of the hallway, and Amethyst was forced to break off his mindflare with the Stunticons to avoid getting caught in the backwash of pain. Frenzy was standing on Wildrider's arm that held his blaster, and Wildrider suddenly coughed up a mouthful of energon.

A metal claw that was about as wide as Frenzy's wrist, and tapered to a single point beyond his fingers had slid out from inside the front of his gauntlet. That weapon was now embedded in Wildrider's chest up to Rumble's wrist, somehow having cut right through his armor. In fact, it looked like it was perilously close to Wildrider's spark.

"I think they made him mad," Amethyst snickered as he helped hold up Darksky.

"Idiot," Darksky hissed at his wingmate, too exhausted to stand on his own. "Frenzy's got berserker programming!"

Amethyst stopped snickering, and tensed. "Berserker?"

"And now it's active," Darksky growled.

Motormaster took a swing at Frenzy with his sword as he redrew his blaster, but Frenzy jumped over it. A second claw slid out from his other wrist over his fingers and he brought both down on Motormaster's shoulder joint, right between the armor to the circuitry within. There was a small explosion of sparks and more energon splattered on the surroundings and on Frenzy as Motormaster's arm went limp and useless, no longer functioning enough to be able to move. His sword fell from his fingers. Wildrider collapsed onto the floor of the hallway behind them, and did not stir.

"Can't you shut it down?" Amethyst demanded, serious and horrified at once.

Darksky shook his head, "I'm too exhausted from holding the Stunticons for so long."

Breakdown shot at Frenzy, but the cassette jumped away from Motormaster, and the shot harmlessly hit the wall. Another shot while Frenzy was still in mid-air, but the cassette didn't even bother to dodge it. He raised one his claws, and the shot slid along the edge of the blade as he parried it away as if it were an enemy blade and unexpectedly angled it back at Breakdown. The power setting of the shot must have been high because when Breakdown's reflected shot hit him, the Stunticon fell backwards and stayed down.

Frenzy used the momentum from reflecting the shot and landed on the wall as if it was the floor, manipulating gravity with the anti-grav generators he was equipped with that allowed him to fly. His claws were no longer silver and now glowed with an eerie black aura, energized. He launched off the wall to dodge shots from Motormaster and Dragstrip, the only two remaining Stunticons, and deflected a shot aside a few degrees. Both of his blades came down on Dragstrip's wrist, and cleanly severed the hand that held the blaster.

Motormaster took a few steps back and tried to shoot at him, but Frenzy was already moving and his shots missed. This wasn't some two-bit berserker program either, and was having Frenzy fight with terrifying effectiveness. Perhaps the most unsettling thing was that unlike most berserkers who were screaming and shouting warcrys once their programming activated, Frenzy was silent.

Amethyst started to help drag Darksky back towards the infirmary and away from Frenzy as the cassette tore through Dragstrip's chest armor with exacting strikes. That was about the time when Rumble's auto-repair systems recovered him from the shock of Wildrider's shot, and his optics came online. They did so just in time for him to see Dragstrip fall with the other Stunticons and Frenzy land silently on the ground. Energon dripped off his energized claws and smeared across his crimson and black paint scheme. His little brother had lapsed, and the programming had activated.

Rumble thought that since there were no more enemies Frenzy's berserker programming might turn off, but then he saw Frenzy look down the hallway where Amethyst was helping Darksky walk and he realized that it wasn't going to yet. When Frenzy ran down the hall towards the young seekers, claws trailing behind him, Rumble pounced on him. Frenzy wasn't expecting a sneak attack from an opponent he thought was dead, and Rumble landed on top of his younger sibling, flattening him.

"Frenzy," Rumble ordered as he pinned him to the floor, "The battle's won! It's time to wake up."

Usually Soundwave had to use his telepathy to forcibly suppress Frenzy's artificially-introduced programming, but sometimes Rumble was able to coax Frenzy back to normal. Soundwave wasn't here, so Rumble was really hoping that he could calm his brother down. He wasn't able to though.

Since his berserker program was engaged, Frenzy's "friend-and-foe" system was disengaged, and so were his strength inhibitors that weakened him so he wouldn't hurt himself. With sheer strength he tore one of his wrists free from Rumble and slashed above him with the claw. His random strike tore Rumble's throat open, but since Rumble wasn't human it wasn't a fatal hit. Frenzy was able to press the advantage he had created to kick Rumble back off of him and then get to his feet with almost fluid grace.

Amethyst head Rumble telling Frenzy to calm down somewhat frantically, and glanced back as he helped Darksky walk, carrying him more then anything, to see both of Frenzy's claws embedded themselves in Rumble's chest. Frenzy pulled his claws free and then slashed at Rumble again. Rumble must have seen it coming because he was able to dodge Frenzy's hits and solidly punched his brother. Although Frenzy wouldn't be able to register pain with his program active, it gave Rumble the gap he needed to draw his second blaster and raise it.

Frenzy had slid back across the floor from the force behind Rumble's blow, ending up in a crouching position like some big cat about to pounce on his prey, and he looked back up at Rumble. Rumble's hand started shaking. He couldn't pull the trigger. His hesitation made Frenzy smile and he leaped at Rumble.

There was the sound of a blaster, and Frenzy's leap fell short of Rumble. He landed at his brother's feet, and Rumble dropped his blaster when he saw his brother lying there, the blaster having not yet been fired. Amethyst lowered his rifle, also unfired, and glanced over his shoulder behind him. Wingstar was standing there with his sword in hand, and beside him was Starscream. Smoke wafted from Starscream's rifle as he lowered his arm.

"Not again," Starscream sighed and looked over the carnage Frenzy had left behind this time.

Rumble turned away from his brother and looked at Starscream in horror, the fact that Frenzy had been shot finally sinking in.

"He'll be fine," Starscream snapped at the older cassette brother. "I used my nullray."

Rumble let his shoulders slump in relief and Amethyst exhaled tremblingly. He'd never faced a berserker before and was quite glad the experience was over. Frenzy might not be large or strong, but he was fast and agile, and his small size meant he was hard to hit and easy for him to dodge shots.

"You called?" Wingstar asked his wingmates in a light-humored voice.

Amethyst had reached out to Wingstar through the wing's bond, and he glared at his wingleader. "You're late."

Frenzy's fingers twitched and then curled into a fist.

"Aren't you glad I took the time to speak to the Air Commander though?" Wingstar pointed out.

"Next time could you speak a little faster?" Amethyst demanded.

Rumble knelt to pick up one of his fallen blasters with a relieved sigh that the situation was under control. His fingers wrapped around the grip of the blaster, and that was the moment when Frenzy struck. One of his claws embedded itself in the center of Rumble's chest where his Deception insignia was, a direct hit this time unlike his earlier blows, right through Rumble's sparkchamber.

Rumble stopped with the blaster still partially raised off the ground, and he looked up at Frenzy slowly. Frenzy smiled when he realized he had gotten a fatal hit in, and it was a type of smile he would never wear otherwise, a smile as sharp and dangerous as a knife. He tore his claw free from his brother and let Rumble fall as he stood. Wingstar's optics brightened in surprise when he saw a flash as Frenzy moved, and he suddenly ran in front of his wingmates with his saber. His blow should have struck Frenzy, but he missed and the cassette unexpectedly landed on top of Wingstar's sword. Using it as a springboard, he leapt high and tore one of his claws across Wingstar's face, making his prey shriek in pain and flinch back.

Starscream fired again before Frenzy could bring his claws straight down and try for another kill, and Frenzy fell sideways when the nullray hit him. He landed on the floor in a heap, and Wingstar stumbled back, a hand across his face as energon ran into his optics. Darksky tugged his arm free, and Amethyst used the freedom to step forward and catch his wingmate as Wingstar fell backwards, sword clattering to the ground unceremoniously.

"No way," Starscream whispered.

The wing of seekers with him looked in disbelief as Frenzy slowly started to stand again, and energized his claws that eerie black color to continue his assault. Starscream adjusted his nullray to a higher power and shot a third time. This time, finally, was enough to put Frenzy into temporary stasis. He hovered in position with his rifle raised, unsure if Frenzy would stay down this time or not.

Berserkers couldn't register pain while their program was active, but this was the first time Starscream had seen them unable to register his nullray. In the past a single shot from his nullray would down Frenzy in his berserker mode, but now it took three hits. How was that possible?

 _Silverwing, exactly what did you do to that cassette?_

Starscream jumped when someone ran up behind him, and whipped his nullray around to face them. It was Soundwave at last, and he didn't even register Starscream was pointing his rifle at him as he ran past the Seekers to Rumble and Frenzy. Ravage was running silently beside his guardian and stopped in front of Frenzy as Soundwave knelt in front of Rumble. If Soundwave was letting his other cassettes approach then Frenzy must be in stasis, so Starscream lowered his rifle.

He glanced beside him, but Wingstar seemed fine. It took time for Soundwave to get from one side of the ship to another even after he realized that Frenzy's control had slipped. By then, the battle was usually over already. This was yet another reason why Frenzy was rarely seen away from Soundwave.

Starscream didn't mention the fact that Soundwave was late to the distraught guardian, and instead motioned to Wingstar and his group to get back to medbay. It looked like the Constructions had several emergency patients to take care of. Although from what Starscream saw, it didn't look like all of them were going to survive.

* * *

 **Yikes. That is a dangerous program, and poor Frenzy is forced to become a monster. It's no wonder he doesn't get much screen time during the G1 series, it's too dangerous to everyone on the battlefield! Silverwing (who will be introduced in short order) what did you do to Frenzy?**

 **On a less story aligned note, can my readers please leave a review and tell me what they love/hate, and if they see any really obvious plot holes? I have gotten very little feedback on this story. The more feedback i get, the better and more enjoyable i can make the story, so it works to the advantage of the readers as well.**


	12. The Story of Silverwing

The door to Starscream's quarters opened, and Spitfire cautiously entered. Starscream had called to him to enter, but didn't acknowledge him as he walked inside. One of Starscream's rifles was sitting on the edge of his desk out of immediate reach, and the other one was in pieces in front of him as he looked it over. He was looking for a glitch that might have weakened his null ray's blasts, the first explanation that came to mind to explain why it had been so difficult to put Frenzy in stasis.

"What do you want?" He asked Spitfire crossly, irritated with his rifle.

"I didn't know there was a berserker posted here," Spitfire said calmly, aware Starscream was simply venting a little frustration.

"Frenzy is just a cassette," Starscream dismissed and started shifting around the pieces of his rifle to try and find a problem.

"Tell that to the Stunticons," Spitfire said louder then he meant, "and Wingstar, and the other cassette."

Starscream was ignoring him. Spitfire's optics darkened and he stalked forward towards Starscream, slamming his hand down in front of him on the desk's surface. Instantly there was a blaster in Starscream's free hand pointed at Spitfire, but Spitfire didn't flinch.

"Are you listening Screamer?" Spitfire demanded. "I might not be a scientist like you and my brother, but I know a great deal about the art of war. It doesn't matter what size a berserker is. Their lethality is determined by how intricate the berserker program is, and their own experience level. That cassette clearly has both."

Starscream looked up from his work warningly, and tightened his finger on the trigger of the blaster Spitfire was staring down the barrel of. Finally, Spitfire stepped back.

"You are judging Frenzy's condition by the wrong standards," Starscream told him calmly and set the blaster down beside him. "His berserker programming is artificial."

Spitfire gave a start when Starscream said that. "What do you mean? Berserker programming is something you are created with, and it's a glitch. If someone goes through enough trauma then the berserker trait can manifest, but you can't artificially make someone a berserker."

Starscream didn't answer and continued working, and Spitfire's expression slowly changed to a stupefied one.

"How is that possible?" Spitfire asked. "Frenzy's program is very thorough. It didn't simply make him mad or scared to the point where he couldn't tell friend and foe apart. His personality was actually _rewritten_ while he was in his berserker state. Like there were two Frenzy's, the normal one, and this Dark Frenzy that almost killed a lot of Decepticons."

"It's one of Silverwing's viruses," Starscream muttered.

Hearing Silverwing's name made Spitfire hesitate, and he didn't instantly speak. Suddenly the entire situation made sense.

"Oh," Spitfire said after several seconds.

"Is there something else you want to ask me about?" Starscream said impatiently when Spitfire didn't leave.

"No," Spitfire said softly, knowing that broaching the subject of the traitor Silverwing was dangerous to do in Starscream's presence.

"Dismissed then," Starscream ordered.

Spitfire left before Starscream did shoot him, as he might when Silverwing was involved, and the door to Starscream's quarters closed behind him. He wanted to know more about the situation, but knew he couldn't ask Starscream. As he thought about what his chances were of finding information in the Decepticon's computer he heard footsteps, and saw Thundercracker walking down the hallway holding an energon cube.

Maybe Starscream's wingmate knew the situation. He approached Thundercracker, and the seeker subconsciously shifted his ration of energon so he had a firmer grip on it as if worried it might get stolen. Spitfire shook his head to assure him that wasn't his intention and asked.

"Do you know the story about that berserker cassette?" Spitefire asked sincerely. "Was Silverwing really involved?"

Thundercracker hesitated, but when he realized Spitfire didn't have an ulterior motive, nodded that Silverwing had been involved. Spitfire felt his shoulders slump.

"Could you tell me about it?" Spitfire implored. "It's not safe to ask Starscream about Silverwing, not after everything that traitor did to him."

Thundercracker thought about his options, and then nodded that he would tell him. He opened the door to his own quarters and entered with the energon cube in hand. Once the lights turned on he jumped and nearly dropped his cube. There was a heap of black and purple metal sound asleep on his recharge bunk, and it hadn't even noticed the lights turned on.

"Skywarp," Thundercracker complained.

He stepped back into the hallway to make sure he had entered the right room, but this was his room. What was Skywarp doing here? Spitfire hesitated while the blue Seeker stalked over to where Skywarp was sleeping and shook him.

"Skywarp, get up," he ordered.

Skywarp swatted the hand shaking him aside and Thundercracker looked at him in exasperation. He grabbed the edge of Skywarp's wing and unceremoniously dragged his wingmate off his bunk. That made Skywarp wake up, but he wasn't able to catch himself before he fell onto the floor, legs still on the recharge bunk. His optics came online, and he winced as he tugged his legs down and sat up on the floor.

"What was that for TC?" Skywarp demanded. "I don't hear a red alert."

"You're in my room," TC growled at him.

Skywarp rubbed his helm and looked around. "Oh, I am. So what?"

TC sighed deeply and silently prayed to Primus to give him patience so he didn't shoot his wingmate.

Skywarp stood up and noticed Spitfire for the first time, jumping a little. Like Skywarp, Spitfire's dark colors scheme allowed him to blend into the shadows of the base without any effort on his part. He waved at Spitfire and TC whacked the side of his helm, making him wince again.

"Would you just get lost Warp?" TC ordered. "I want to talk to Spitfire in peace."

"About what?" Skywarp asked nosily, and stepped back to avoid getting hit again.

"What Silverwing did to Frenzy," Spitfire answered.

Skywarp glanced at him suddenly curious, "you asked Screamer about it?"

"No," Spitfire assured him. "I'm not in the mood to die today."

"I don't see why Silverwing's name is so taboo," Skywarp shook his helm. "There are traitors all the time. It's part of war."

"Silverwing was the Vosian Air Warrior that joined the Autobot faction a few days before the Autobots executed Vos's royal family." TC growled at him and moved his energon cube away when Skywarp tried to snatch it. "He's probably the one who told the Autobots how to get past Vos's defenses, so he's the reason Warsong and his parents are dead."

Skywarp stopped his half-hearted attempts to steal the energon cube. "I didn't know that."

"Of course you didn't," TC sighed, "you were constructed five millennia after the start of the war, and you've spent four of those five millennia in stasis. I remember when Silverwing joined the Autobots though. He and Starscream were friends before the war."

"A lot of friends and families ended up split in two," Skywarp shrugged. "If he's the reason the royals are dead then I get why the rest of the Seekers hate him, but it seems like it's more personal with Starscream."

"It is," TC said impatiently.

"Silverwing killed Cybren and Brightlight," Spitfire said softly. "Right after the royal family was executed and Starscream became the new leader of the Air Warriors."

"Cybren and Brightlight?" Skywarp tilted his helm. "Never heard of them. Who are they?"

"Starscream's bondmate and sparkling," TC said quietly.

Skywarp's optics brightened in surprise and he looked down. "I didn't know he had a family."

"Silverwing killed them when the Air Warriors were integrating with Megatron and the Decepticons," TC explained. "It was a chaotic time. Brightlight was only a few quartexs old, but he killed them anyway. Starscream tried to kill him for that, but Silverwing made it back to Autobot lines and Starscream had to turn away to avoid getting scrapped. In fact, chances are that Silverwing is still online."

"Leave it to the Autobots to be that messed up," Skywarp muttered. "I can't believe Silverwing is with those peace-lovers, and that they're letting him stay."

"He's a scientist," Spitfire added, "and a good one. His specialty is cyberspace, and he can create or cure all sorts of glitches and viruses. The berserker one infecting Frenzy is one of the viruses, right?"

"Yeah," Thundercracker greed. "Silverwing wanted to test it out, so when Frenzy was captured by the Autobots he infected him. He thought it would force Frenzy to keep fighting and killing until his spark finally shattered, but it didn't. I think of his bond with Soundwave and the other cassettes keeps him stable."

"And the experience Frenzy has?" Spitfire pushed.

"Frenzy was a front-liner before the virus," TC shrugged. "He fought close-range using those claws of his while Rumble covered him with his blasters. Now he can't go onto the battlefield, and he's tried to make himself useful by learning how to maintain weapons and medical treatment."

"He's a medic," Spitfire said sharply.

"Somewhat," TC shrugged, not knowing for sure.

Like all medics then, Frenzy would know how to repair his injured comrades. He had an extensive knowledge of Transformer anatomy, so he would be able to patch them up easily. It meant on the flipside that Frenzy could take apart his opponents all the quicker.

"Sheesh," Spitfire muttered. "Just when I thought things might get boring being posted here."

"Things are never boring here," TC promised him.

"Never," Skywarp agreed and snatched the energon cube from his wingmate.

"Hey," TC complained and took a swing at him.

Spitfire backed out of the quarters as the two of them startled brawling. Silverwing, the younger brother of Emperor Sunstrike and uncle to Prince Warsong, had struck again.

* * *

Soundwave finished looking over Frenzy in the medbay to make sure he hadn't been seriously injured during his latest lapse, but he appeared fine. Frenzy sat on the edge of the bunk, and didn't raise his helm as Soundwave stepped back. He was looking at his hands covered in dried energon from those he had hurt.

Laserbeak was sitting beside Frenzy, and Ravage had also temporarily jumped onto the bunk. Ravage nudged the youngest of Soundwave's cassettes reassuringly, but Frenzy didn't acknowledge his oldest sibling. His lack of response made Ravage lower his ears sadly, and look at Soundwave for help.

"How is everyone?" Frenzy asked suddenly. "Everyone that I hurt, are they going to be okay?"

 _*The Stunticons will be fine*_ Laserbeak assured him and wrapped one of his wings around Frenzy's shoulders. _*Wildrider won't be in any demolition derbies for a while, but that's all.*_

 _*So are Wingstar and his wing*_ Ravage added. _*Amethyst wasn't injured, and although Darsky's energy reserves were badly drained all he needs is rest. Wingstar wasn't seriously hurt either.*_

Frenzy was glad that he hadn't seriously hurt anyone and clenched his hands into fists. Because of a quirk of Silverwing's virus, Frenzy wasn't able to remember what he did while in his berserker state. All he knew was that he and Rumble had been cornered when their prank had gone astray and Rumble had been shot. The next thing Frenzy knew he was restrained in the medbay with Laserbeak standing vigil over him. It was both a blessing and a curse.

"Rumble," Frenzy whispered. "You haven't told me about Rumble."

 _*Buzzsaw's keeping watch over him*_ Laserbeak offered.

Frenzy rapidly shook his helm. "I don't care about that. How is Rumble? Will he be okay?"

Because of Silverwing, Frenzy was not always Frenzy. Most of the time he was his usual self, but when he slipped into a berserker mode the monster in him that Silverwing had created woke up. The "Dark Frenzy," as Spitfire had named it, woke up. Frenzy knew Silverwing hadn't created the monster that relished in killing so much, and knew that darkness had to have already been in him. Silverwing had just brought it to the surface. It wasn't like this dark version had an independent will of its own or anything, and was nothing more than Frenzy when conscience was temporarily removed so all that remained was an insatiable bloodlust.

 _*He'll be fine*_ Ravage told him reluctantly. _*He's already out of surgery*_

"But?" Frenzy asked. "I know you're not telling me the full story. Whenever I lapse and that monster wakes up, my bond with you all is skewed and takes some time to go back to normal. I can feel that Rumble's alive, but I can't feel anything else about him. It's not just because of the lapse, is it?"

"He has not come out of stasis yet," Soundwave finally spoke up. "We don't know when he will."

"If," Frenzy hissed and held his stained hands to his chest as he trembled. "You mean if! You don't know if Rumble is ever going to wake up again, do you?"

When Soundwave didn't deny his words, Frenzy felt a pain in his spark. He was right then. The monster inside him that Silverwing had given such power to might have permanently hurt Rumble. Ravage had told him that Rumble had tried to stop him and get the monster to go back to sleep, and he'd been hurt for it.

Everyone was just lucky that he hadn't had his blasters with him when he'd lapsed, or things would have turned out much worse than they had. Rumble wouldn't have been the only victim then. It was all Frenzy's fault.

"No," Soundwave told him firmly when Frenzy thought that. "It is not your fault."

 _*Yeah*_ Laserbeak agreed. _*This is Silverwing's fault. Don't blame yourself for his crimes.*_

"Silverwing's fault, huh?" Frenzy asked. "If I were stronger then I wouldn't lapse in the first place, and that monster who takes such pleasure in watching the life fade from his victim's eyes wouldn't wake up."

Frenzy knew with certainty that what had happened to Rumble was his fault. It was always his fault.

* * *

Starscream finally stopped after doing a full inspection on his rifle a third time and leaned back in his chair. He was going to get the same result every time no matter how many times he looked at it. There was nothing wrong with his null ray, and its blasts had been at its usual power level. One hit should have put Frenzy under.

Frenzy's berserker program was the problem.

Starscream didn't like the answer he was getting, but there was _nothing wrong with his null ray_. Like the rest of the crew of _Nemesis_ , Frenzy had spent four million years in stasis when the ship crashed. The new guess was that Frenzy's berserker program Silverwing had implanted him with had gotten stronger in that time. This incident was the first time Starscream had used his nullray to deal with Frenzy since their elongated stasis, so it was possible he was right.

Frenzy's berserker program was evolving. It was becoming stronger and more dominant, quicker to kill and harder to stop. It was possible that it was starting to become stronger then Frenzy's unaltered personality. This was not good at all.

* * *

 **First, a quartex is around one Earth month. Yes, Silverwing was part of the royal family, which makes the fact that he might have been the one to betray them all the worse. He was presumed dead a decade before _Ark_ and _Nemesis_ left and fell into their four millennium sleep, and nothing has been herd from him since. Dead or not, Frenzy is a lasting monument to his legacy. You can guess what kind of Transformer Silverwing is from that hopefully. **

**In this case, something evolving is very bad.**


	13. A Very Dangerous Game

The seekers danced and weaved through the thunderclouds as they played a game of storm-tag. Megatron still hated the fact that they were purposely crashing each other, but he had learned the hard way that his claustrophobic seekers could only spend so long trapped in a ship underwater. Two years ago, shortly after the Decepticons had built _Nemesis 2_ and failed in their attempt to return to Cybertron courtesy of Mirage, the ship had crashed into the sea.

After spending some time in the ship the seekers had started to go stir-crazy. Since the rain here on Earth was not acidic like Cybertron's was it was safe to play storm-tag, and the other seekers had forced Starscream to ask Megatron about it. Megatron had agreed to it, and it was suspected that he might have done so because Skywarp and the cassette brothers had stuffed Megatron's fusion cannon with confetti the night before.

Even now, two years later, the game was still fun. Astrotrain usually didn't partake in storm-tag, but he never did. Wingstar was back at base with Blitzwing to get a little sparring in with his sword, but the other seekers were up in the clouds.

Three days had passed since Frenzy's control had lapsed and although Rumble had yet to come out of stasis, everyone else had recovered. The Stunticons had fled the base as soon as they could. Starscream had rebuilt the rifle he had dissected, and since the only real injury had been another of Soundwave's cassettes, Megatron had left Soundwave to discipline Frenzy.

Soundwave hadn't done anything as it wasn't Frenzy's fault, and the youngest cassette was still in medbay watching over Rumble and hoping he would wake up. No matter what they tried to do to lock down Frenzy's wrist-mounted claws, all safeguards were deactivated when his control lapsed. Removing his melee weapon's surgically would make Frenzy more vulnerable and his berserker program would undoubtedly find a way to keep killing anyway, but it was starting to look like that might have to be done for everyone's safety.

Spitfire was trying not to let any of that run through his head as he focused on the game. It had been millennia since he had last played storm-tag and in all honesty, he was out of practice. His large size meant that although he wasn't as agile as the smaller seekers he was much harder to knock out of the sky. So far, he had managed to survive although Thundercracker and Thrust were out.

This game was taking longer than usual for some reason, and as the seekers stayed in the heart of the storm, the surviving ones had been swept deeply inland. In fact, their game that had started on the California coastline was now far too close to the _Ark_. Since their radar was useless in the storm and you had to stay above the cloudline, none of them had realized that yet.

In fact, they didn't realize it until Ramjet knocked Skywarp beneath the cloudline. Despite the ominous clouds, it wasn't yet raining so it was easy for Skywarp to see the orange ship embedded in the side of the mountain not very far off and the Aerialbots and Powerflide flying towards where the seekers were playing. He turned on his communicator instantly.

"Autobots inbound!" Skywarp alerted the other seekers and flew back into the clouds before the Autobots started shooting at him.

"What?" Starscream asked.

"Hey," Amethyst complained to Skywarp, "you're not allowed to use your comm."

"There are six lifesigns approaching," Darksky interrupted them, using his telepathy to track the incoming fighters since it seemed the game was suspended.

"Why are they here?" Ramjet demanded.

"Who cares," Amethyst tossed at the group, thrilled by the chance presented to him. "I'm gonna get me some kills."

"We're over _Ark_!" Darksky suddenly shouted through the comms, interrupting Amethyst before he could dive down.

"Stupid storm," Spitfire muttered, "I thought it was supposed to go north of the _Ark_."

"It was supposed to," Starscream sighed. "It seems to have changed its mind."

"Works for me," Amethyst called out and dipped his wing to dive down.

Skywarp and Ramjet were right on his wings, and the instant they dived from the cloud cover the remaining Seekers could hear the sound of laser fire.

"Idiot," Darksky grumbled. "We're on top of the Autobot Headquarters. Doesn't he know how many Autobots are down there? I'm half-tempted to leave him."

"That doesn't sound like the worst idea," Spitfire agreed, knowing that Skyfire would probably be at the _Ark_ to.

Darksky sighed though and dived beneath the clouds anyway, priming his laser rifles. He needed to fight off the Autobots long enough to fetch the wayward Seekers and bolt back to _Nemesis 2_. Reluctantly, Spitfire tilted his wing and dropped altitude, the other Seekers doing the same.

Amethyst had already engaged Slingshot and Air Raid at the same time, and Darksky dove right into the fray. They needed to keep the fighting high in the clouds where the other Autobots couldn't shoot them down, and Darksky slipped between layers of wind with the ease of practice to stay high. Skywarp used his teleportation to suddenly materialize behind Silverbolt and crash the Aerialbot leader into the ground, remembering that the younglings had taken him out first to prevent Superion from being formed.

That still left five flyers, and Spitfire became more eager to jump into battle when realized quickly that Skyfire wasn't present. Since he didn't run the risk of killing his brother he joined in, and the Autobots were quickly turned back to _Ark_. Slingshot, tailfin smoking from Amethyst, went on ahead to where Autobots were gathering outside their base.

"A raid," Prowl said dubiously. "That's odd."

"It's just Seekers," Slingshot reported as he landed near Optimus.

Wheeljack was the last one to come out of the base, holding a rifle in his arms. "I think I have something to take care of them."

"Uh…" Slingshot said as Wheeljack raised the rifle. "Is that your new invention?"

"Yep," Wheeljack said proudly, the fins by his head lighting up as he spoke. "It's a sniper rifle with spark-penetrating rounds. One clean shot is all it takes."

"Does it work?" Prowl asked dubiously.

"Well," Wheeljack admitted. "I haven't actually tested it yet."

Prowl slapped a hand over his faceplate. "Of course not."

"Incoming," Smokescreen warned and raised his blaster, a move copied by the over two dozen Autobots gathered.

"Pull out!" Darksky ordered Amethyst as his wingmate stayed on course for the _Ark_. "We're outnumbered and not battlefit after being in the storm for so long."

"I've got a better idea," Amethyst shot back. "How about we finish up our round of Storm-Tag? Autobots vs Decepticons, no holds barred."

"That's a terrible idea," Starscream warned him.

A lightning bolt suddenly shot from the clouds to Skywarp, but Skywarp teleported from his location to beside Amethyst. The bolt went through the spot where he had been and hit the ground.

"Actually," Skywarp relented. "I kind of like it. We've been practicing fighting in thunderstorms. I'll bet the Autobabies haven't been."

Starscream hesitated as the _Ark_ drew nearer and the four remaining enemy fliers broke into pairs and circled around for another attack. It was now or never.

"Fine," Starscream muttered uncharacteristically. "Seekers! Form up on me! We're going to play a game of Storm-Tag."

Starscream was singularly amazed when the Seekers obeyed his command and formed around him in a v-shape.

"They're not turning back," Spike Witwicky warned as he stood beside Trailbreaker.

"Spike," Optimus turned to his human friend. "Get back inside."

"This'll turn them away," Wheeljack promised and raised the rifle, one that looked like a Transformer version of a Mauser SR-93 sniper rifle, to his shoulder.

"If it works," Hoist grumbled under his breath.

Wheeljack pulled the trigger, and most of the Autobots there were expecting it to blow up as tended to happen with Wheeljack's inventions. They were all astonished when the rifle fired a metal bullet into the sky and almost seared off the edge of Dirge's wing.

"One of Wheeljack's inventions works?" Skywarp asked dryly.

"I'm more worried about how it hit us all the way up here," Darksky interrupted.

"Keep an eye on the ground," Starscream ordered them as the Aerialbots drew into range, "and let's play."

Skywarp and Amethyst, two of the best Storm-Tag players, broke off and attracted the attention of Air Raid and Powerglide before zipping into the clouds with the Autobots on their tailfins. Darksky pulled away with Ramjet, Thrust, and Spitfire to strafe the Autobots, leaving Starscream and Dirge to handle Fireflight and Skydive.

At first, it looked like the Seekers actually had the advantage despite being few in numbers. In less than ten seconds, Powerglide was sent spiraling out of the clouds, transforming and falling to the ground with lightning burns singing his body, courtesy of some fancy flying on Skywarp's part. Air Raid followed soon after, missing half a wing from one of Amethyst's plasma shots.

"That's almost too easy!" Skywarp whooped as he and Amethyst dove back under the clouds to where everyone else was shooting.

"Being able to shoot helps," Amethyst agreed.

"No way," Slingshot stared. "My buddies are down already. They barely lasted ten seconds in the storm!"

"This'll even things out," Wheeljack assured Slingshot as the Seekers opened fire on the Autobots.

He focused the crosshairs on Dirge, making sure to aim a little ahead of the Seeker so he would fly into the shot. When Dirge flew straight and level for a strafing run with Darksky he pulled the trigger, and this time, he scored a direct hit. There was an explosion to Darksky's left, and the youngling sheared off to avoid shrapnel, almost flying into the mountain the Autobots made their base out of before recovering.

"No way," Darksky whispered, "one hit."

Dirge falling from the sky attracted the rest of the Transformer's attention, and they stared as he fell nosecone first into the ground with an explosion. Everyone was startled by it. Darksky was the worst, and he almost flew into Amethyst next because he wasn't paying attention.

"We gotta grab him," Spitfire transmitted.

"No," Darksky promised the large Seeker as he tried and failed to find the echo of Dirge's spark. "There's nothing to save. One hit."

"No way," Ramjet argued, "you mean he's…"

"Dead, "Darksky finished.

"Wheeljack finally made something that works," Starscream observed tartly.

The Autobots almost as one turned back to look at Wheeljack, and the inventor shrugged innocently as he moved the bolt back and ejected the empty cartridge. Because it was still a prototype it had no magazine and only one bullet could be loaded at a time, so Wheeljack took one of the bullets mounted onto the side of the rifle and slide it into the barrel.

"It works," Wheeljack said and raised the rifle again.

The battle resumed after that, and Ramjet flew in shock for a moment before starting to dive down towards Wheeljack. He would avenge his wingmate! The air that flowed off his frame seemed to spiral as he adjusted the way he flew and fell into an Edgeflight maneuver.

"Don't!" Starscream shouted at Ramjet.

A shot from Sky Dive finished Starscream's sentence for him, and the bolt skimmed Ramjet's side. The bolt and sudden pain made Ramjet flinch to one-side and break the position. He hadn't pulled out of the Edgeflight before he dodged though so the abnormal amount of G-force was still in effect, and the Seekers gave a start as Ramjet's wings shattered.

Pieces of varying sizes fell like shards from broken windows, and Ramjet's wings simply shattered. It looked similar to a rain of blood as the crimson fragments of the metal fell down onto the battlefield, reflecting the light from a nearby lightning bolt, a noise lost to the clap of thunder. The pain of losing both of his wings rendered him unable to think and he crashed to the ground in his jet mode just as Dirge had only seconds ago.

This was why Edgeflight could not be used in battle. Maybe it could be used in exhibition flights, but never in the unpredictable field of battle. Had Ramjet not been using Edgeflight, then Sky Dive's glancing blow barely would have slowed him down for a few seconds. Since he had been though the G-Force he had been negating with Edgeflight had caught up to him all at once, and his frame simply hadn't been able to take the strain.

"He's alive," Darksky announced after a second. "We need to get him."

"We need cover," Spitfire warned.

"How about a distraction?" Amethyst asked softly, suddenly serious after losing one of his kin.

Darksky caught onto what Amethyst was thinking and agreed. "Skywarp, teleport behind Wheeljack and grab that new rifle of his."

"What do you expect to do with it?" Skywarp demanded as the group scattered to avoid lightning bolts, the two remaining Aerialbots, and more fire from the ground.

Some of the Seekers tore off to chase the Aerialbots.

"I'm a long-range fighter," Darksky reminded him. "I know how to snipe, and I'm about the same size as Wheeljack. There's no reason I can't borrow his newest toy."

"I'll draw his attention," Amethyst said in the same soft tone and tipped his wing downward to fly over the Autobot's head.

It was the ultimate game of skill. Who was better? Amethyst's flying or Wheeljack's aim? If Wheeljack was better than Amethyst was dead.

"Idiot," Starscream hissed when Amethyst allowed himself to come into range of the rifle.

Spitfire shot down an Aerialbot near Skywarp, and the trickster teleported. Wheeljack was behind the rest of the Autobots and busy tracking Amethyst with his rifle, so no one instantly realized Skywarp was there. Skywarp saw Wheeljack's finger on the trigger when he materialized, and he grabbed the barrel of the rifle, jerking it to one side. The shot came close to Amethyst's nosecone, but went past him into the cloud harmlessly.

"What the?" Wheeljack asked and looked over his shoulder to see Skywarp behind him.

Knowing he needed to be stealthy and that the sound of his rifles would give him away, Skywarp soundly punched Wheeljack in the faceplate and jerked the rifle free. He held the rifle in one hand triumphantly, and then grabbed Wheeljack by the throat. When Prowl glanced behind him and saw them, he lifted Wheeljack in front of him as a shield, and Prowl's acid bullets shot Wheeljack instead of him.

With a smile, Skywarp threw Wheeljack at Prowl and teleported away with the rifle in hand while Prowl caught his comrade. Skywarp rematerialized on one of the stone ridges surrounding the _Ark_ where Darksky had transformed and landed. While the rest of the Seekers were busy dealing with the last Aerialbot and distracting their kin on the ground, Ramjet was still where he had crashed. If they were going to retrieve him, they would have to give Spitfire an opening.

Darksky held out his hands, and Skywarp obediently gave him the rifle. The youngling looked over the rifle quickly and after a few seconds figured out how to load a bullet into it. Including the one he had just put into the barrel, he had three bullets. He knelt and laid down on the ground, bracing the rifle onto the edge of the ridge.

He would have to make his shots count. Darksky powered down the sight in his left optic and raised the scope to the right, a modification only snipers had. Skywarp was surprised by how comfortable Darksky was with a rifle. There was no mention of him getting sniper training at the Decepticon's academy in his transfer file.

"Skywarp," Darksky ordered verbally as he tried to find the fight through his scope. "Kneel down before you're seen."

Skywarp hesitated, wanting to enter the battlefield. Slowly though, he knelt on one knee beside Darksky.

"Keep a look out for me," Darksky asked him. "I'm going to be focused on this and I don't want to be ambushed."

"Right," Skywarp replied cautiously, never having worked with a sniper before and unsure what to say.

"You've been fighting these Autobots a lot longer than I have," Darksky spoke up again as he managed to find the fight though his scope and start looking for a target. "Got any idea who I should shoot first? After my first shot, they'll realize I'm using the rifle, so I likely won't get a second kill."

Skywarp knew that although there was no sign of Omega Supreme or Skyfire, nearly all of the other Autobots were gathered there. Darksky would shoot whatever Autobot Skywarp told him to, but Skywarp didn't know whose name to say. His first thought was Optimus Prime, but he realized right away that it was doubtful he could get a kill shot on the leader of the Autobots.

Then suddenly he saw Trailbreaker step in front of Prowl and Wheeljack and raise one of his damn impenetrable forcefields to shield them from one of Amethyst's strafes. Windcharger tried to step up beside Trailbreaker and catch him in his magnetic field, but an Edgeflight maneuver put Amethyst out of range in a heartbeat at the cost of warping the metal on a vertical stabilizer.

"Trailbreaker would be a helpful kill," Skywarp admitted. "He's the black one with the forcefields always getting in our way."

"I see him," Darksky promised and focused the crosshairs of the scope on the center of Trailbreaker's chest where his spark should be. "He's got a forcefield up though. I need a distraction to kill him."

"A distraction for the distraction?" Skywarp asked dryly. "Maybe Screamer can do something."

Skywarp looked up only to realize that although the other Decepticons were fighting, Starscream was nowhere in sight. His first thought was that Starscream had seen that the odds were against him and that the coward had fled, but then he heard Darksky chuckle.

"It looks like the Air Commander's going to handle the distraction," Darksky announced and set his finger on the trigger.

Starscream was? Skywarp looked over the battlefield, amazed that Starscream was thinking about doing something heroic and brave.

"I don't think that's it," Darksky assured Skywarp, detecting his thoughts. "I just don't think he likes the fact that a wing of cadet younglings are getting more kills then he is. It makes him look bad you know."

"Of course," Skywarp sighed.

Spike watched the battle from inside the _Ark_ while Ratchet neutralized the acid eating away at Wheeljack's frame and began to look the inventor's damages over. Prowl had rejoined the field, but was disquieted by the fact the Decepticons had stolen the rifle. The Seekers were far too large to be able to use it though, so he didn't think it was an immediate concern.

What was more immediate was a certain tri-colored seeker standing overhead the Autobot troops on the _Ark_ 's aft that was sticking out of the mountain. He set one of his rifles for his cluster bombs with a quiet sigh. There was no way for him to make more cluster bombs here on Earth, so he usually tried his best not to use them and stick to his nullray. A nullray wouldn't kill though, and Starscream was in the mood for a kill. If these cadets showed him up too much then Megatron might start favoring them.

There was no way Starscream was going to waste two shots of cluster bombs, so he needed to aim carefully. He looked over the battlefield and saw a fairly good target. Amethyst had swept low to the Autobots again, and this time Windcharger had managed to catch him in his magnetic field, freezing him in midair. Windcharger normally didn't have the patience to use his magnetic ability effectively, but it seemed he had managed to net Amethyst. In theory, if he could pull Amethyst closer to him where his magnetic field was stronger he could tear him apart.

Although Windcharger wasn't the most wanted candidate, Starscream supposed he had better save the youngling – again. Starscream leaped down from his perch where Windcharger was, charged rifle in front of him. Windcharger heard Prowl shout at him to look out, and saw the shadow fall over him. He looked up in surprise at the same instant Starscream fired.

The range for Starscream's devastating cluster bomb was almost point blank when he fired the cluster bombs, and his vision was washed away by light. Starscream was too close, and so was blasted backwards into the _Ark_ base pieces of his armor breaking off from the shockwave. Windcharger was not nearly so lucky, and the Autobots all stared as the cluster bomb reacted violently with Windcharger's spark and his entire frame exploded outward in a rain of debris and wash of energon splattering everywhere.

Amethyst, now free from the magnetic field, circled around and looked at the carnage as if impressed. Skywarp stared as pieces of Windcharger's body fell to the ground, amazed that one of Starscream's cluster bombs packed such a punch. It was no wonder he hardly ever used them. Trailbreaker dropped his forcefield and turned his helm to look at what was left of Windcharger, leaving himself exposed.

"Here's kill two," Darksky announced to Skywarp calmly as he pulled the trigger.

Just as happened to Dirge, the shot went right through Trailbreaker like a beam of light. There was no outstanding explosion this time, just a handful of pink energon splattering onto the ground almost artfully. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, the two closest to Trailbreaker looked at the hole in his chest, and then Trailbreaker collapsed in front of the without a sound. Sunstreaker looked down at his arm where Trailbreaker's energon had landed with bright optics, hand shaking.

"Sniper!" Prowl shouted.

He tracked the position Trailbreaker had been standing and then turned directly towards Darksky. Darksky's scope reflected off a flash of lightning, giving him away. The rifle, Prowl realized too late. Although it was true that the full-grown Seekers were too large to use it, the younglings weren't. He had forgotten to take it into calculation. There were only three younglings, and as Wingstar wasn't here and Amethyst was flying overhead the sniper had to be the green and gold one named Darksky.

Darksky loaded another bullet into the barrel and then sat up, resting the rifle on his knees. The Autobots had taken cover from his shots, as he knew they would, so there was no way he was getting another kill. Still, two Autobot kills for one Decepticon death was a good ratio. With the last Aerialbot shot down and the Autobots hiding from the rifle, it was easy for Spitfire to land where Ramjet had crashed and then take off a few seconds later. He told the other Decepticons that he had the fallen Seeker.

"No use staying here," Darksky sighed and stood. "Skywarp, you might want to go fetch Starscream."

"Huh?" Skywarp asked in surprise, "fetch him?"

"The recoil from his cluster bomb put him in stasis and knocked him inside the _Ark'_ s entrance," Darksky explained.

"I don't really do passengers very well," Skywarp warned.

Darksky gave him a dangerous look adjusting his grip on the loaded rifle so he could shoot. Skywarp held his hands in surrender before he was killed by it to and teleported down to _Ark_. Ratchet was holding his blaster on Starscream, and only starting to lower it as he realized the Decepticon wasn't conscious.

Then Skywarp teleported in, and Ratchet instantly shot at him. The first shot went through Skywarp's form harmlessly as he was still materializing, but the second hit his shoulder. Skywarp cursed and fired a few times with his rifle without really aiming, and managed to hit the medic. It was a glancing blow only, and Skywarp knelt by Starscream's side and set his hand on his wingleader's chest.

He teleported himself and Starscream into Spitfire's hold where Ramjet was lying, startling Spitfire. The drain from too many teleports, especially dragging along a passenger, was catching up, but Skywarp shook it off and manually hopped outside Spitfire, transforming back into his jet form. This fight wasn't over yet.

Amethyst had pulled back and was flying near Darksky, who was still in his root mode holding the loaded rifle. Darksky's wingmate took off ahead of him and Skywarp remained in his root mood as he flew near Darksky, feeling a little too dizzy to risk his alt mode.

"I think we're good," Skywarp called at him.

"Almost," Darksky said darkly and turned his helm to one side as he sensed pursuers.

Skywarp turned and saw the Lamborghini twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, chasing them into the sky. Great, it looked like they were going to try some last minute jet judo as recompense for their kin's death despite the other Autobots shouting at them to come back. There was a click behind him, and Skywarp froze as he sensed more then saw Darksky raise the loaded rifle to him behind his back.

"Don't move," Darksky warned. "When I say so, teleport. I might be able to get in a second kill with this after all."

Skywarp understood what Darksky had in mind, and although he wasn't happy having a weapon that deadly pointed at him was willing to play along. A few drops of rain began to fall at last from the thunderstorm the seekers had been playing in.

"I got him!" Sunstreaker called out as he flew in front of his twin at Skywarp triumphantly.

This would be for Windcharger and Trailbreaker whose energon still tainted his perfect paint scheme. For an instant, Sideswipe smiled as his twin raised his blaster. Then Skywarp teleported. Sideswipe's blue optics brightened in shock and horror as Skywarp vanished in a flash of light, revealing one of Wingstar's teammates that had been hovering in Skywarp's shadow out of sight. Wheeljack's rifle was against his shoulder, and his finger on the trigger.

"Sunny!" Sideswipe shouted in warning.

Sunstreaker saw the danger, and shot at Darksky at the same moment Darksky pulled the trigger. The Autobot's shot hit Darksky's snitched rifle and knocked it out of his hands, but Darksky's shot did a great deal more damage. Sideswipe felt it. He felt in an instant, felt the pain from the bond he shared with Sunstreaker as twins as Sunstreaker's spark went offline.

"Sunny!" Sideswipe shouted again as he forgot all about the Decepticons and caught his twin as he started to fall. "Hey, Sunny. Sunny!"

Darksky rubbed his sore hand as his rifle fell, knowing he couldn't risk diving back down into range of the Autobots to retrieve it. He couldn't, but Amethyst could and he came out of nowhere, transformed about a foot off the ground, and caught the rifle with one hand. Shots were fired naturally, but Amethyst's erratic flight pattern ensured he reclaimed the needed altitude to stay safe, holding the rifle as his trophy.

 _*Hold onto that until we're safe*_ Darksky informed his wingmate and transformed.

Amethyst followed his lead and the wingmates along with Skywarp formed an escort around Spitefire as the Decepticons vanished into the storm clouds, lost in sight by the rain as it came down even harder. Sideswipe landed on the ground near the entrance to Ark, still holding his brother in his arms.

"Sunny!" Sideswipe shouted again at his brother's limp form as his twin's yellow color faded to gray. "Sunstreaker wake up! Please… Wake up…"

Mud dirtied the twin's frames as the dirt around them turned to mud, the rain increasing to a steady downpour. Sideswipe reached up and brushed some of the mud off of Sunstreaker's frame, knowing his brother hated to get dirty. He wasn't aware of the other Autobots running over to make sure they were alright, and he looked up in the direction the Decepticons had gone.

Sideswipe wasn't even able to create a coherent threat or vow through his shock as he held his twin's body in his arms. Although he could think of nothing to say, he knew in his spark that they would pay for this. Wingstar and his wing, and all the other Decepticons would pay.

"Sheesh," Spitfire sighed deeply as they finally managed to disengage. "Is Storm-Tag always this hectic?"

"No," Skywarp promised and sat on Spitfire's hull.

Spitfire tssked at Skywarp's move and was tempted to shake him off, but realized that Skywarp didn't have the energy to fly on his own after so many teleports. Reluctantly, he let Skywarp stay put. Amethyst passed Darksky back the sniper rifle as Darksky went inside Spitfire's hold to see to the wounded. He tucked the rifle into subspace and looked over Ramjet and Starscream, aware that as the only medic present he was going to have to stabilize both of them until they returned to base.

Three kills to one Decepticon death, Amethyst thought as he flew on Spitfire's wing. That was good, although he wished he could some of his real abilities against the Autobots. Darksky and Amethyst had a limiter imposed on their extra programming however, and their limiters were removed only when Wingstar's was since their power came from him. Considering the temperament of Wingstar's creator, Amethyst knew that was unlikely. He might be forcing Wingstar to stay in this dimension and stop the war, whoever he was, but he wasn't making it easy for him.

Well, Amethyst chuckled to himself as he flew a loop-de-loop below the clouds to burn off the adrenaline, that was a nice battle overall. The Autobots had lost three members, two of which were using Vosian power rectifier chips. Wingstar wanted the Decepticons to win this war, so Amethyst bet his friend would be glad to hear of this battle. Wingstar's creator… likely less so.

* * *

 **The pattern of the Decepticons winning everytime and the Autobots being driven back will not hold, as you have seen. That would be far too predictable. I also realize this chapter is long, but i couldn't find a good point to break it into two. Sideswipe really isn't having any luck with these cadets either, and what might happen when he's driven to the breaking point may be very bad indeed.**


	14. Wingstar's Mission

Ravage lay on the floor beside the bunk where Rumble remained in stasis. Frenzy had finally fallen asleep keeping watch over his brother, and Soundwave had retrieved him to let him sleep in peace. Inexplicably Ravage had also fallen asleep at his post, and so didn't notice when someone entered Rumble's room unchallenged.

Wingstar glanced at Ravage as he walked over the cassette to reach Rumble's side, and stood over him. His energy sword was still in his hand from his sparring lesson with Blitzwing, and he raised it over the cassette. There was a moment where he stood there, then tucked his sword back into subspace and held a hand over Rumble's sparkchamber to try and analyze the damage Frenzy had done.

It was as Scrapper had reported to Soundwave, Rumble's spark had been fractured down to the core. Dark Frenzy, as Spitfire had called Frenzy's berserker programming, could not have landed a more perfect hit. Wingstar lowered his hand and inspected the cassette in a way both serious and sad. There was no way Rumble would ever wake up again.

At least, Rumble wouldn't wake up on his own. Wingstar flexed his fingers as he debated whether he should heal the damage to Rumble's spark. He knew he could since his connection with his creator was strong enough, but with the limiter active Wingstar would need his creator's permission to continue. That meant he had to explain himself to his creator, and he wasn't sure he was in the mood for that.

After drumming his fingers against his leg for a few seconds, he sighed deeply and raised his hand over Rumble's sparkchamber.

"Through my bond may yours be mended," Wingstar ordered.

Soft golden light fluttered around his fingers like a swarm of snowflakes. Just as Wingstar suspected, his utterance provoked a consciousness entering his own. It was not Darksky this time, but Wingstar's creator.

"Hello father," Wingstar greeted him aloud in a tart voice.

 _*Father?*_ His creator murmured. _*What is that?*_

"A term of affection humans use to describe one of their creators," Wingstar smirked. "The other term is mother, but that is a feminine term. You are not feminine."

Wingstar heard his creator sigh deeply in his mind at his childish notion of borrowing human terms. It was as Skywarp had said, every Decepticon here on Earth had at least a few human things saved on their Padd. The Decepticons constantly called humans fleshlings, yet they still learned from them.

"I need some of your energy to heal this Transformer," Wingstar told his creator. "I don't have enough to do it on my own with the limiter in place."

 _*Why should I?*_ His creator demanded. _*I created you and sent you to Cybertron to end the ten million war that has been raging, and all you do is kill.*_

His creator was talking about the Autobot Skids Wingstar had killed during his first battle on Earth. He curled his fingers to his palm in frustration at his creator's voice.

"Had you not waited ten million years to interfere in this war then he would still be alive," Wingstar demanded, " _but no_. My creation and deployment is the _only_ thing you've done to try and end this war!"

 _*You are not stopping this war so much as escalating it*_ his creator warned him.

"Wrong," Wingstar corrected and glanced at the Decepticon symbol on one of his wings. "I'm not just escalating the war. I'm going to win it."

 _*Win it?*_ His creator said in surprise. _*Win it! That is not your function! You are supposed to end it!*_

"Winning the war will end it," Wingstar reminded his creator. "This war has gone on too long and killed too many for there to ever be peace between the Autobots and Decepticons. Both factions can't win at this point. Only one can, and I will ensure the Decepticons will win. Then the war will end."

 _*You would allow Megatron to rule?*_ His creator asked in bewilderment.

"Here I thought you couldn't possibly bring yourself to pick a side and ally with one faction or another," Wingstar grumbled. "No, I won't. That wingless grounder is a menace, and I know it. I will kill him before this war's end and have a new leader for the Decepticons."

 _*Who?*_ His creator snipped, _*yourself?*_

"Not me," Wingstar said softly. "I'm just an artificial life you created. I have someone else in mind."

His creator didn't demand who again, and instead said warningly. _*I created you Wingstar, and I can extinguish your spark.*_

"You could," Wingstar agreed and nodded his helm. "It took the last of your energy to create me though, and if you kill me you won't have the energy to create a new emissary. I am your last chance you have to end this war."

 _*You would not bring peace, but more death*_ His creator shield away, knowing that his experiment with Wingstar had failed.

"What choice did you leave me, father?" Wingstar demanded. "You could have stopped this war millennia ago, but you refused to interfere in the choices of the Cybertronians, and could not bring yourself to side with one faction or another. Because of that, all you have done it keep the balance of power level between the Autobus and Deceptions. That is the worst thing you could have done."

 _*You expect me to side with one faction and eliminate the other?*_ His creator balked.

"No," Wingstar admitted, "but you should have let this war progress normally instead of continuously rebalancing it so the sides were equal. Because of that, all you have done is made this war drag on for ten million years. Had you stayed out of it, it likely would have ended in one or two."

 _"What does that mean?*_ His creator demanded.

"It means that when two forces of equal but opposite power clash they wipe each other out," Wingstar said patiently, "all that is left is 0, nothing. By constantly ensuring the two factions are balanced in an attempt to save everyone that equation has become real life. The only way this war will end now, if you keep up what you're doing, is with the two sides wiping each other out. In other words, extinction."

 _"I have not-*_ his creator tried to interfere.

Wingstar didn't let him finish his thought. "You can't save everyone father, and I know that. That's why I'm not trying to. I will save the Transformer species, but thanks to your idiocy I can only save part of them, and I can only do that by winning the war and eliminating the Autobots."

 _*That is not true*_ his creator whispered in Wingstar's mind.

"Yes it is," Wingstar assured him. "Just because you don't want to acknowledge something doesn't make it a lie. The truth is the hardest to swallow after all because the whole point of a lie is that it be believed easily."

His creator didn't answer, surprising Wingstar. Was he finally getting through to him, and making him understand what he had done? He and his creator had been going in circles ever since Wingstar, who was supposed to be a neutral, had gotten a set of Decepticon insignias on his wings.

"I have a plan to end this war, father," Wingstar assured his creator, "and quickly. The sooner we put the Autobots out of their misery, the sooner Decepticons will stop dying. In order for my plan to work however, I need the Decepticons to trust me. That's why I've been killing Autobots."

 _*And you will not protect the Autobots?*_ His creator repeated his earlier demand.

"I can't thanks to how long you've made this war drag on," Wingstar muttered and shook his helm. "There is no way I can get both factions to trust me, and I'm not going to try."

 _*Perhaps the Transformers would be better off if I eliminated you and let this war traverse without my interference*_ His creator thought softly. _*All you will do is bring death.*_

"Wars bring death," Wingstar pointed out, unfazed. "That's what wars are."

He felt a pain in his chest where his temporary spark was, and fell to his knees as he spat up a mouthful of energon. Panic made his eyes brighten, and the optics artificially changed to Decepticon red shifted back to their proper color. Hold on, his creator wasn't seriously going to offline him?

"Transformers will die with or without my presence," Wingstar warned his creator. "I will end the death, and bring peace to Cybertron. I already have a plan in action, and that is more then what you have."

 _*I do not have a plan besides you*_ his creator agreed _*but that might be the best. As you said, it was because of my interference on both sides that the balance is level and they have been dying.*_

The pressure on Wingstar's spark increased and he realized his creator was serious. He was going to shatter Wingstar's spark.

"You can't stop what I've put in motion father, not even killing me will change the tide of this war," Wingstar promised rapidly. "You have taught me, and I have taught my wingmates. They draw power from me, and they will not die even if you kill me. They will continue to teach the Decepticons what they need in order to win this war. The instant you created me and sent me to this dimension you guaranteed the Autobot's defeat. Killing me won't change that, it will just make the war drag on longer."

The pressure continued on his spark for a few perilous seconds more and then vanished. Wingstar collapsed onto the ground and lay on his side in a heap, the room spinning around him. It seemed he had gotten his point across, Wingstar thought in shaky relief as he sat up on his knees. That was the first time his creator had actually tried to offline him.

Cautiously, Wingstar stood beside Rumble. "I take it you won't help me heal this one then."

 _*No*_ his creator responded in a tone as if he were sulking.

"He's an innocent life," Wingstar defended, albeit in a more respectful tone. "The only reason he was injured was because he was trying to stop his family from killing others, and the only reason his brother has berserker programming is because an _Autobot_ gave it to him. Sending me here is the first thing you've done in ten millennia to take responsibility for your actions concerning this war. Won't you do something else, or does his life not matter suddenly because he does not wear the symbol of your Autobots?"

 _*If he were an Autobot, you would have killed him already*_ His creator reminded him.

"True," Wingstar admitted, "but you're nothing like me."

His creator would agree to that point silently, and looked over the damage to the Decepticon. He was nothing like Wingstar, whom he was certain now was a failure. Just like he couldn't bring himself to kill any of the other Transformers, he couldn't kill Wingstar. Wingstar was just doing what he thought was right, and he _had_ infused Wingstar with much of his remaining energy. It was possible Wingstar had the power to carry through his threats of ending the war.

Wingstar's optics returned to the artificial red color as he watched. There was nothing to really sense or see, but he was aware of his creator using his power to mend Rumble's torn spark. It was nothing short of miraculous.

His creator faded from Wingstar's thoughts and the room without a word at him, and that suited his youngest creation just fine. Wingstar shook his head at his creator's sudden willpower and left the medbay. A few minutes after he left, Ravage woke up again and was startled to see Rumble sitting up and looking around, fully awake.

The only thing Wingstar had to do now was finish his plan, a plan that involved several details. Among those details was the destruction of the Matrix of Leadership that Optimus Prime had. Without its power and wisdom, the Decepticons would be able to win far quicker, saving everyone time and casualties from a long-drawn conflict.

Destroying the Matrix, Wingstar knew, was the first step. Without it, Megatron would be able to kill Optimus Prime. Then all Wingstar had to do was kill Megatron and reunite the Decepticons under the Commander he chose. Without Optimus Prime to guide them, the Autobots would be helpless.

* * *

 **Do you have more or less questions about Wingstar and his creator now? Wingstar is not taking Megatron's or Prime's orders. He's following his own and for better of worse he has made up his mind about what to do with the war. One of the reasons he wears Decepticon insignias is because he ended up friends with Darksky and Amethyst, two Decepticons, but that is not the only reason. The main reason will be revealed in time.  
**


	15. Aftershock

Starscream had merely been knocked into stasis from his cluster bomb and was conscious by the time Spitfire approached _Nemesis_ , if too damaged to transform. Darksky was still working on stabilizing Ramjet, but there was little he could do to mend the molecular shattering Edgeflight had inflicted. He would need an entirely new frame.

"Hey," Amethyst announced over his communicator as he circled back around Spitfire in his jet mode. "We've got an escort."

Escort? Starscream didn't understand what he meant until he stood and looked through the glass canopy over Spitfire's cockpit. Approaching them were Blitzwing and Wingstar.

"Is everyone alright?" Wingstar transmitted to them worriedly as he and Blitzwing fell in formation around Amethyst and Spitfire, the only two of the "attack wing" still flying.

"Ramjet's going to need a new frame according to Darksky," Amethyst replied lightly, "Edgeflight shattering."  
His mood darkened after he said that, and Wingstar sighed deeply. "There was a casualty, wasn't there?"  
"Dirge," Skywarp answered for Amethyst. "The Autobots have a new sniper rifle, one shot can kill."

"That's not good," Blitzwing muttered.

"Oh it's great," Amethyst interrupted, seriousness brushed aside. "Darksky got two kills with it, and Starscream got a third with his cluster bombs."

"Oh no," Wingstar mused with a chuckle. "You let Darksky near a sniper rifle?"

"Wheeljack's rifle works fine," Darksky finally spoke up and leaned back from Ramjet's frame. "The bullets have a special mixture in them, some sort of compressed energon instead of gunpowder if I had to guess. There's one bullet left for Mixmaster to analyze, and once he does he can make me some more."

"He'll like that," Wingstar agreed.

The docking tower to the Decepticon's headquarters was waiting for them when they arrived and Spitfire landed first. Starscream left, supporting Ramjet only because of Darksky's glare and the fact that his rifle still had one bullet left. Skywarp hopped off Spitfire's hull, and the large Seeker transformed.

"Thundercracker and Thrust are in medbay still," Wingstar continued to inform them as he circled the docking tower with Blitzwing, there not being enough room for them to land. "Rumble's also awake, and three kills in one battle is going to put Megatron in a good mood."

"His black diamond's still not integrated?" Darksky asked curiously.

"No," Wingstar promised in a wry voice, "and he's not happy. I think the Constructicons need some extra parts to finish the upgrade to his fusion cannon."

 _*Did you wake Rumble up?*_ Amethyst asked his wingleader as Darksky shooed Starscream, Skywarp, and Ramjet to the lift so they could go down first.

 _*My creator isn't happy with me *_ Wingstar promised _*but I managed to talk him into repairing Rumble's spark. I was so busy arguing with him that I didn't realize you were in a battle until you were already pulling out.*_

 _*You couldn't have made it in time to aid us anyway*_ Darksky assured Wingstar.

 _*Still not going to tell us who your creator is?*_ Amethyst asked Wingstar in an annoyed voice.

 _*Even if I was allowed to, you wouldn't believe me*_ Wingstar muttered.

Darksky knew Wingstar would feel guilty for Dirge's death even though it was not his fault. If he had confronted his creator for the first time since letting the Decepticon insignias be placed on his wings, then that meant he had finally decided to remain with the Decepticons. He had finally chosen a side, and would feel responsible for what happened to it.

Wingstar could not use his powers freely in this dimension, hence the reason why neither Darksky nor Amethyst could. If he wanted to use his abilities here, he needed his creator's approval. The limiter was starting to make things difficult, and to make things worse, Wingstar's power was locked down so well he couldn't even access Level 1.

Wingstar didn't respond, and when the lift returned the remaining Seekers descended into _Nemesis 2_. Skywarp had been given an energon cube to refill his low energy, and Starscream had already warned the Constructicons that there was no way they could repair Ramjet's frame. The Air Commander said something along the lines of " _just because I have to teach the other Seekers Edgeflight doesn't mean they have to use it_ ," and it was likely a good thing Megatron didn't arrive until after Starscream simmered down.

Mixmaster whisked away the bullet Darksky gave him while the telepath sat on one of the empty bunks in the medbay and looked over his new rifle. Soundwave was there with all of his cassettes, including Rumble, who was awake if groggy with Frenzy clinging to him in an adorable manner. Scrapper didn't have the faintest idea how Rumble had managed to wake up again as Wingstar had covered his tracks well, and Hook started to look over the damage to Ramjet's frame despite Starscream telling him it was useless. Amethyst wisely kept quiet and nursed his damaged wing that still stung from Windcharger's magnetic field, sitting beside Darksky.

Blood of both factions now stained Earth, and Wingstar knew Dirge's death had frustrated Thrust. The Coneheads might be experiments made by Shockwave to be superior to the Vosian Seekers, but they still shared a wingbond just like any Vosian wing did. Losing part of your wing wasn't easy, and for one of the first times, Thrust was actively worried about Ramjet's safety. This meant he was getting in Hook's way, and because he was hovering, Hook threatened to put him in stasis if he didn't calm down. Just to make things more interesting, other Decepticons curious to know what had happened now joined Spitfire and Blitzwing, who had been staying out of the way at the edge of medbay.

It took Megatron stalking inside and shouting " _Silence_!" to shut everyone up.

"Now," Megatron demanded as he stood at the entrance to the now silent medbay. "What happened?"

"We said hello to the Autobots at the _Ark_ by accident," Amethyst answered immaturely, and Darksky hit one of his wings without looking up.

"What?" Megatron said, the statement not clearing things up at all.

"The storm we were playing Storm-Tag in swept us to the _Ark_ without us realizing it," Starscream reluctantly spoke up before Megatron became irritated. "By the time we noticed it, we were already engaged with the Aerialbots and the other Autobot fliers."

Megatron couldn't believe it, and then realized he could believe it. Yet another game of Storm-Tag had gotten out of hand, and he decided that he needed to cancel that game. It didn't matter how much the Seekers whined about being stuck on the base. They would have to put up with it.

"The Autobots had a new long-range rifle that offlined Dirge with a single direct hit," Starscream continued his report, knowing Megatron wasn't going to be happy to learn the number of soldiers he commanded had dropped by one. "Ramjet crashed from a misuse of Edgeflight shortly after that."

"One of your Seekers was killed?" Megatron interrupted in surprise.

Although Wingstar had managed to be the first Decepticon to kill an Autobot since the war on Earth began, this was the first time a Decepticon had died. Starscream nodded reluctantly at Megatron's question, not wanting to have his wings torn off again. It looked as if Megatron might do something like that, or else shoot him with his fusion cannon as he liked to do, when Darksky spoke up without raising his eyes from his new rifle.

"This rifle is the one that was used to kill Dirge," Darksky informed Megatron. "We were able to coordinate well enough for Skywarp to steal it from the Autobot forces. My wing and I are still in our youngling frames, and small enough that I was able to use it to kill two Autobots."

"Two more kills?" Megatron asked, a little surprised by it.

"Yeah," Amethyst chimed in. "Starscream killed another Autobot with his cluster bombs so Skywarp could steal the rifle, and Darksky was able to offline Trailbreaker. Then Darksky killed the Lamborghini that tried to chase after us."

"With the others distracting the Autobots I was able to retrieve Ramjet," Spitfire added with a sigh that he might regret speaking up and attracting Megatron's attention. "That is why he is not offline as well."

"Starscream is able to manage well under pressure," Amethyst smiled. "Thanks to him, we kept the situation under control, more under control then it would have been if he wasn't there."

Starscream raised his helm slightly in surprise when Amethyst said that, aware that Darksky had been the one to take command of the situation and give out the orders. Why were they making it sound like he deserved the credit, and that Darksky had done nothing? Spitfire seemed willing to play along with the wing, but if Skywarp wanted to, he could easily tell the truth of what had happened.

Skywarp, sitting beside Thundercracker in the same bunk with a half-empty energon cube in his lap, said nothing though and took another gulp of the energon his systems badly needed. His silence surprised Starscream again, and made him wonder why Skywarp wasn't taking advantage of the opportunity to get Starscream in trouble with Megatron. Why weren't the other Seekers getting him in trouble? What was going on?

It was the younglings, Starscream realized. If they called them out on their lie, then Wingstar's wing would get in trouble for lying to Megatron. They might even get in more trouble for lying then Starscream would for Dirge's death. The other Seekers didn't want to get the younglings in trouble.

Starscream could live with that, but he didn't understand why the younglings were helping him in the first place. They had let Starscream give Megatron the black diamond to, and take the credit for it despite the fact their wing had stolen it. What was their motive to helping him? Were they simply trying to get Starscream in their debt? He didn't think it was that simple, but wasn't sure.

"Not only do I have a new weapon," Darksky continued, "but we learned something very useful during the fight."

"We did?" Skywarp asked and lowered the energon cube.

Amethyst nodded when he caught onto what his wingmate meant. "Oh yeah. The Autobot fliers don't know how to play Storm-Tag."

Megatron didn't look pleased with casual statement, but Skywarp suddenly chuckled. "He's right. Amethyst and I took out two of the Aerialbots in a matter of seconds once we had them follow us into the storm. They can't cope in there."

"Which means it's safe to say the rest of the Autobot fliers are just as helpless in a storm as they were," Wingstar observed. "While, thanks to our game, flying in thunderstorms has become a strength for us."

Megatron never would have guessed that Storm-Tag would prove useful. Thanks to the ridiculous game, his Seekers now had an advantage the Autobots lacked. Better, it was flying within a thunderstorm, a tactic considered taboo for most because of its inherit dangers.

Everyone fell quiet, and Starscream held his breath, wary of what Megatron might do. He remembered Megatron almost turning him into slag several times, and he remembered the traitor Silverwing capturing him and starting to dissect him before Thundercracker and Skyfire had led a strike to save him and prove to Sunstrike that Silverwing was a criminal. Starscream expected to be put under something like that again, but to his intense shock Megatron spoke instead of shooting. He also said something unexpected.

"I expect a full report of the situation sent to me," Megatron warned Starscream and then he turned on his heel and walked from the medbay.

Starscream thought he was going to pass out from relief. Even better, Megatron had said "sent" instead of "delivered," which meant Starscream wouldn't have to go to Megatron's quarters in person. It was normally when Starscream hand delivered the report that Megatron ambushed him and tore his wings off. Megatron was going to let him off unpunished?

Amethyst leaned backwards and looked at Starscream upside-down with a smile. Darksky causally shoved Amethyst off the bunk he was sitting on, catching Amethyst completely by surprise. His wingmate yelped as he fell and landed flat on his back.

"That was for being so flippant with your comments to Megatron," Darksky explained before Amethyst could demand a reason. "He is our commander, and I don't think you could receive a shot from his fusion cannon unscathed."

"Speak clearer," Amethyst muttered, "you have such weird grammar you almost need a translator."

Starscream let Wingstar calm his wingmates and the Decepticons not in need of repairs be run out of the medbay by the Constructicons without a word. Megatron had let him off undamaged. How very unexpected.

* * *

Within the _Ark_ 's medbay, Ratchet slowly raised his empty hands above his head. The blaster pointed at him trembled, and its owner gripped it in both hands.

"Sideswipe," Ratchet tried to calm the Autobot who had just lost his twin, "put the blaster down."

Sideswipe shook his head no, and put his finger on the trigger of his raised blaster. "Not until you fix Sunny's wounds."

"That wouldn't do any good," Ratchet promised him, "he's already-"

"No he's not!" Sideswipe shouted, interrupting Ratchet without averting his blaster from his Autobot kin. "You have to fix my brother. Now!"

"Sideswipe," Grapple cautioned. "Please calm down."

"Shut up!" Sideswipe ordered Grapple in a voice that had a shrill edge. "You just shut up!"

"Sideswipe," Grapple tried to say.

Sideswipe didn't let him finish his statement and there was a snap of a blaster being shot followed by Grapple taking a staggering step back. Ratchet and the other Autobots present in the medbay stared as Grapple tried to support himself on a console and his hand slipped. Sparkplug Witwicky, standing over one of the injured Autobots, held his breath as Grapple banged into the console and slid to the ground. The damage from the shot had ripped open his chestplate, and energon was dripping from the wound.

Sideswipe's blaster smoked from the shot and he turned it back onto Ratchet without hesitation. "Fix my brother."

"Are you insane?" Ratchet demanded Sideswipe. "You just shot a fellow Autobot!"

Ratchet tried to stand, but stopped when Sideswipe tightened his grip on the blaster.

"Sideswipe, Grapple's wound looks deep," Ratchet tried to explain. "I need to look at him."

"After you fix Sunstreaker," Sideswipe gritted out without removing his blaster. "Then you can look at Grapple."

Ratchet hesitated when he saw the energon begin to pool around Grapple and he did not stir, "Sideswipe."

"After Sunny," Sideswipe repeated.

"There's nothing I can do for your brother," Ratchet repeated. "He is dead. Grapple is not yet."

Sideswipe stared at him coldly, and then lowered one of his hands from his blaster. For an instant, Ratchet thought he might have gotten through to the young Autobot, but then Sideswipe moved the barrel of his blaster so it was pointing not at Ratchet, but at Grapple's limp form. Horror painted Ratchet's features when he realized what Sideswipe was doing. Sparkplug held his breath, knowing a human like him could do nothing and wishing he could help.

"Fix my brother now," Sideswipe said in a voice that warned it was final. "Or I'll shoot."

"You'll shoot a comrade who's already down?" Ratchet demanded. "Are you crazy?"

"Shut up!" Sideswipe shouted and shot again.

His shot missed Grapple, but Sideswipe refocused it on his comrade, on his hostage. Ratchet looked down at Sunstreaker's greyed body, aware that his spark had long since fled his body. There was nothing he could do to bring Sunstreaker back to life, but Sideswipe wouldn't take no for an answer. He might well kill Grapple. Sideswipe had always been rash and reckless, but his current actions could be classified as _treasonous_.

"Sideswipe," Ratchet tried to reason with him.

Sideswipe tightened his finger on the blaster's trigger, about to shoot, and there was another shot from a blaster. For a moment, Ratchet thought Sideswipe might have dealt a deathblow to Grapple, but Sideswipe's blaster suddenly flew out of his hand and slid across the floor away from him. Ratchet looked from where the shot had come from, and saw Prowl with his blaster raised.

"What is going on here?" Prowl asked seriously without lowering his blaster.

Sideswipe whirled to face him in a fighting stance, but stopped when Prowl pointed his blaster towards him.

"Hold him," Ratchet ordered Prowl. "I need to see to Grapple."

"Sideswipe shot him?" Prowl said dubiously.

"Yes," Ratchet snapped.

"What are you doing?" Sideswipe demanded Ratchet. "You need to repair Sunstreaker."

"Sunstreaker is dead," Prowl said seriously. "Why did you attack your fellow Autobot?"

"I had to," Sideswipe swept a hand through the air, the calm surety of the movement unsettling Prowl further. "Ratchet wouldn't fix Sunny. Once he fixed Sunny I would have let him help Grapple."

Prowl stared at Sideswipe, stunned by his casual dismissal. Spike Witwicky peered around the corner of the doorway, having been the one to fetch Prowl, but didn't enter. He looked to make sure his father was alright, and Sparkplug nodded to his son that he was. Sideswipe looked away from Prowl with a tssk and held his hands up that he surrendered. Slowly Prowl lowered his blaster, and Sideswipe took a step back to a console, away from his blaster. He curled his hand around one of the tools on the surface that Ratchet had dropped there without Prowl noticing.

"Prowl, watch out!" Sparkplug shouted as Sideswipe threw the wrench at Prowl.

Prowl shot at it and knocked it from the air, but Sideswipe followed the toss by lunging at Prowl. He slapped Prowl's hand away, and punched him. There was a solid clank of metal on metal, and Prowl's head jerked upward. Sideswipe wrapped his hands around Prowl's blaster to try to take it, but Prowl tightened his grip on it.

"Sideswipe, let go," Prowl ordered as the barrel of the blaster bounced around aimlessly, the two Autobots fighting for the weapon.

One of Sideswipe's hands pressed against Prowl's finger on the trigger, and a shot scorched the wall accidently. Had Ratchet not ducked it would have scorched him. Panic flashed behind Prowl's optics as he tilted the blaster up towards the roof. Two more shots went off, but no one was hit.

"Sideswipe!" Prowl shouted and struggled to pull his blaster free.

Sideswipe refused to let go of the weapon, and Prowl had no choice but to kick Sideswipe's knee joint and slammed the blaster upwards into Sideswipe's face. Finally, he was able to tear the blaster free and throw Sideswipe over his shoulder away from him. The Autobot flew through the air and into the wall by the door with a loud clang. Spike stepped back into the hallway so Sideswipe didn't land on him, and Sideswipe fell forward onto his stomach.

Sideswipe tried to sit up, but heard a click over his head and froze. Very slowly, he raised his optics upward and stared straight down the barrel of Prowl's blaster. Prowl had his finger on the trigger, and it was pointed straight towards Sideswipe's helm.

"Don't move," Prowl warned darkly, slowly pronouncing each word.

Sideswipe moved his arm in preparation to sit up and Prowl shot the floor in front of his arm. He didn't move again after that.

"Is everyone all right?" Prowl called out to the Transformers in the medbay without removing his optics from Sideswipe.

"We're fine except for Grapple," Ratchet said as he looked over Grapple's injuries. "Primus, I need to get Grapple into surgery _now_."

"I need a team sent to medbay," Prowl informed Red Alert over his communicator. "Set up a cell."

"A cell?" Ratchet stared. "You're going to put Sideswipe in the brig?"

"Unless you have a better idea," Prowl pointed out. "I don't want to stand here all day."

"This is Red Alert," the Security Chief replied. "I hear you, and acknowledge. I'm monitoring the situation from my office. Autobots have been dispatched to help you, and will arrive shortly."

"Understood," Prowl confirmed and shut down the communicator.

"You're going to put me in the brig?" Sideswipe stared. "Why? For what?"

"How about for Grapple?" Prowl asked. "You shot a fellow Autobot with intent to kill, Sideswipe."

"They wouldn't repair Sunstreaker," Sideswipe hissed.

"Sunstreaker is dead Sideswipe," Prowl assured him, "and that can't be changed."

"No," Sideswipe whispered in disbelief. "He can't be."

"He is," Prowl repeated. "You need to accept that before you kill someone."

"Kill someone," Sideswipe repeated as a series of footsteps echoed in the corridor.

Hound, Smokescreen, and Brawn approached in the doorway and stood there. Brawn went to help Ratchet move Grapple, and Hound and Smokescreen stood by Prowl. They hoisted Sideswipe to his feet, each one holding an arm in place.

"Oh don't worry," Sideswipe smiled. "I'll kill someone for this all right. I will kill someone for this. I'll kill Wingstar and his friends if it's the last thing I do!"

The other Autobots started to haul Sideswipe away, the Autobot squirming in their grasp.

"I'll kill them!" Sideswipe shouted. "I'll kill them all, and anyone who gets in my way!"

His words sent a chill down Prowl's spine as Sideswipe was dragged away, and Prowl finally lowered his blaster. He knelt and picked up Sideswipe's blaster mutely, swallowing dryly. Over his time spent in battle, Prowl had learned about soldiers. Other soldiers had lost kin like Sideswipe had and they had made vows like his. They always saw the threat through, even at the expense of themselves or other Autobots.

He glanced over as Spike ran to his father to make sure Sparkplug was all right, and saw the human child smile in relief. They were smiling now, but Prowl wasn't sure how much longer they would be. It was as Sideswipe had said. He would kill Wingstar and his wingmates, and anyone who got in his way. Prowl stood and looked silently as Grapple was helped to surgery.

The two-year stalemate in the war for Earth had finally been broken. Prowl half wished it hadn't.

* * *

 **One of the most interesting aspects of the first two seasons of G1 series is that other then a few close calls for Optimus, there are no life-threatening injuries sustained on either side of the war. The Autobots turn the fighting into a game by taunting their enemies and using puns because it might as well be a game. It's a stalemate, and the war has deteriorated into something that isn't scary because _no one dies_. They're not worried for their lives.**

 **The Seekers play a game of tag where they knock each other out of the sky because they're bored. While the losers of Storm Tag are waiting for the game to end they are grounded, badly injured, and vulnerable. It would be the perfect time to kill them with minimal danger to the attacker. Yet the Seekers play anyway because they don't believe their lives are in any danger. They don't consider their situation on Earth as open war anymore, but a game where each strikes the other because they're ordered and expected to.**

 **Megatron doesn't ban his Seekers from playing Storm Tag because he's concerned the Autobots will take advantage of the opportunity to kill his soldiers, but because they go through a large amount of spare parts. There is still the hatred, but because of the stalemate, it is almost as if they are not at war. No one feels their lives are threatened.**

 **That was then though. Now there are casualties on both sides, and instead of being a game where they practice "jet judo," name calling, cheesy puns, and learn to play basketball or football, it is war again. I suppose one can understand why it would be safer and more fun for there to still be a stalemate. That is not war though. This is.**


	16. New News

Optimus Prime stood silently and stoically in the Ark's medbay as he looked over the newest casualties: Windcharger, killed by Starscream, and Trailbreaker and Sunstreaker, killed by Darksky's sniping. Wheeljack blamed himself for the latter two deaths as they had been killed after Darksky had flinched his sniper rifle and used it against the Autobots. If Wheeljack hadn't created the rifle, or else kept better guard over it, they might still be alive.

There were burnmarks on the wall, and Ratchet was still in surgery with Grapple. Sideswipe had been disarmed, and locked in a cell in the brig until he calmed down. Prime knew it had to be hard for Sideswipe. Twins were unique in the regard that they literally shared two halves of the same spark, so Sideswipe had been able to feel Sunstreaker's death because it was literally a part of himself dying.

Events of late had been troubling for Sideswipe, and it seemed to Prime that Wingstar was purposely targeting the Lamborghini. Sideswipe's Autobot insignia was still scratched where Wingstar had damaged it, and now Sideswipe's twin had been killed by Wingstar's wingmate. Sunstreaker's death had already pushed Sideswipe too far, and Prime feared that this was just the beginning.

"I find it hard to believe that those new seekers are really just younglings." Prowl said as he looked over the damage to the medbay Sideswipe had wrecked.

Prowl's words attracted Optimus's attention, and he turned towards his tactician. "What do you mean?"

Prowl looked up at Prime, surprised that he had addressed him. "Well, I suppose it's just like I said. Those three younglings are too well trained. Despite their young age, their appearance has shifted the field in the Decepticons favor. I find it hard to believe they are just mere younglings."

Prime looked back at the deceased Autobots as he thought Prowl's observation over. With these three deaths, four Autobots had now been killed in battle since the younglings had shown up. Before their appearance, no Autobots had died.

"What do you think the chances are that they aren't younglings?" Prime asked, having never considered that point before.

"You mean adults in youngling frames?" Prowl clarified and then thought it over. "Not likely Prime. Just as a youngling's spark is too weak to support an adult frame, an adult's spark is too powerful and would damage a youngling frame. I suppose they could have made youngling frames out of an adult's materials, but I don't see the point to it. All they would do in smaller frames would be to make their opponents underestimate them."

"We did underestimate them," Prime mused. "They seem inexperienced in combat though."

"I noticed that," Prowl agreed. "They make beginners mistakes, like forget they are facing off against multiple opponents or that an attack could come from the land or sky."

"They're lucky," Prime said softly, "very lucky."

"I suppose that's one way to put it," Prowl disapproved, not believing in luck as much as careful planning. "Although they are inexperienced on the battlefield they are skilled in smaller scale fights, such as Wingstar's duels with Sideswipe. They're powerful, but only in controlled situations."

That meant that if the Autobots could unbalance them enough they might be able to defeat them. Prime was loathe to kill half-grown younglings, but it was starting to look like if he didn't kill them they would continue to kill his Autobots. They didn't seem to be wavering in obeying Decepticon orders or killing, so it was unlikely they would defect.

"What if they're Second-Generation?" Prowl asked softly.

Prime raised his helm at Prowl's question. The thought had never crossed his mind before, but with that one question, the situation began to make sense.

Optimus's first instinct was to say that was impossible. The only second-gen Transformers were the holders of the Matrix. When the Matrix chose a new holder, its guardian evolved into a more powerful state and became a Prime. Only with the Matrix could a Transformer evolve.

What if Prowl was right though? Had the Decepticons had finally found a way to mimic the evolution the Matrix granted to the Primes, and create the perfect super soldier? Were these three test subjects? Optimus worried if they were, for the experiment seemed to be a success.

There were loud footsteps echoing in the hallway, and both of them quieted as Skyfire and Perceptor hurried in. The two scientists stopped in the doorway when they saw the three bodies laid out respectfully.

"Primus," Skyfire whispered as he looked over the bodies. " _Ark_ really was hit."

"You two are a little late," Prowl observed steadily.

"We came back as soon as we got your message…" Perceptor promised them, voice trailing off before he finished his sentence.

"We just had our comms. off," Skyfire finished guiltily.

Prowl sighed, but didn't say anything. The three bodies laid out did a better job of scolding the scientist then Prowl ever could. While it was doubtful Perceptor's presence would have changed the tide of the battle, Skyfire might have been able to help.

Prime didn't blame them as much as Prowl silently did. With the addition of Spitfire to the Decepticon ranks, Skyfire now had to fight his brother and friend. Some thought that he would defect to the Decepticons now more than ever, especially since Autobots were dying and Decepticons weren't. Skyfire knew the other Autobots didn't trust him, and it was making it difficult for him to stay at the _Ark_ where he knew he wasn't wanted.

Perceptor had been a scientist at Crystal City before its destruction and although he hadn't done more than see Starscream in passing before the war, he had worked with Skyfire from time to time. Skyfire felt at ease around him in a way he didn't with most of the other Autobots.

Prime's comm. chimed, and he tapped it on to hear Blaster's voice over the sound of rock-and-roll he was listening to. "Yo Prime, you got a message from Elita-One all the way from Cybertron."

Prime's eyes brightened briefly in surprise when Blaster said that, and he responded quickly. "Is she all right?"

"It's not a distress beacon," Blaster offered. "Everything seems all clear on her end."

Prime's spark began to pulse normally. "Put it through to my quarters."

"You got it," Blaster chimed and turned off the comm.

Prime excused himself from the Autobots in the medbay and walked distractedly to his quarters. He was too distracted to notice Laserbeak making himself comfortable overhead so he could confirm the Seeker's kills, or the fact that Laserbeak had recorded Sideswipe's attack, something Megatron would find most intriguing. Although Blaster had told him the message wasn't urgent, Prime was still worried about why she would contact him.

He tapped on the monitor on his desk, and Blaster connected Elita to him. Prime heard music for a second, making him realize that Blaster had been chatting to Elita during the delay. Blaster's music vanished when Elita's image appeared, and she smiled when she saw him.

"Elita," Prime whispered. "I am glad to see you're all right."

"We're fine here Optimus," Elita assured him in her soft-spoken voice. "We found something I thought you might like to know about."

"Oh?" Prime asked curiously. "What is it?"

"Well," Elita began. "Greenlight recently worked with a member of another rebel cell to hack the Decepticon's mainframe. We managed to get information on their energon shipments, information we have already made use of."

"I didn't know there were other rebel cells besides yours Elita," Prime said in surprise and relief.

"A few," Elita admitted. "My girls and I are the Alpha cell, and we worked with the Delta cell to get access to the Decepticon's computers. There is a Seeker among the Autobots stationed with Delta cell, a former scientist from before the war. He is quite the expert in computers."

Prime was surprised when Elita mentioned a Seeker. After the royal family's murder, most of the Vosian Seekers had followed their Regent, Starscream, and joined Megatron. They claimed the Autobots had killed their leaders, but if that was true, then it had been a strike Optimus had no knowledge of.

"Who was the Seeker?" Optimus asked curiously.

"No names," Elita reminded him lightly. "I should think you would be more interested in the information. It is about the new wing Megatron gained."

"What have you learned about Wingstar?" Optimus asked urgently.

"It's all surprising," Elita promised, noticing the worry and concern Optimus had. "Has something happened on Earth?"

Optimus looked down at the surface of his desk. "Three of my Autobots were just killed."

Elita's optics brightened in surprise and then darkened after the shock faded. "I'm sorry Optimus."

"Two of them were killed by one of Wingstar' companions," Optimus explained. "We haven't been able to find any background information on him or his wing."

"I have the information," Elita tapped at the desk she sat at for a few seconds, "and I've just sent the folder we've compiled on them to you."

Optimus knew it would take a few minutes for it to arrive so he asked, "Can you summarize it?"

"You won't like it," Elita promised, but supposed Optimus didn't like anything about this situation. "We weren't able to find much on them."

"A transmission Blaster intercepted said that Wingstar's wing were the valedictorian graduates from the Seeker's Academy in Kaon," Optimus probed.

"They're not," Elita shook her helm, painting confusion across Optimus's features. "There is no record of them attending the Academy, let alone graduating at the top of the class. In fact, there is no record of them being transferred to Earth."

"Falsified orders," Prime whispered.

"Yes," Elita said cautiously, "but Optimus. The reason I'm so surprised is that there is no record of them in the Decepticon's database."

"What do you mean?" Optimus asked cautiously.

"They're not registered in the system," Elita repeated. "Although they're wearing Decepticon crests, they're not sworn to obey Megatron. Whatever files the Decepticons have on Earth are likely ones they fabricated themselves so they wouldn't get caught."

"They're not Decepticons," Optimus leaned back in his chair. "They're just pretending they are. Why?"

Elita shook her helm again. "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to learn what their reasons are. They are likely taking orders from someone, but whoever it is, it is not Megatron."

Optimus understood Elita's wariness now. This complicated things immensely, and there was no indication of who was giving Wingstar and his wing orders, or what those orders were.

"We managed to find some data that might explain a few things," Elita continued. "Although we aren't sure, we found a file listing a seeklet named Amethyst as the sparkling of two Decepticon seekers. The one in the files was registered deceased along with his creators a century ago. He would be old enough now to be in a youngling frame. If it is the same Amethyst that you are facing then he's an orphan, but it's possible the Amethyst on Earth could simply be using the same name."

"The other two?" Optimus asked.

"Although we're not sure," Elita said cautiously, "it appears that Darksky is one of Shockwave's experiments."

"One of Shockwave's super soldiers?" Optimus demanded sharply, remembering the conversation about the possibility of Shockwave creating second-gen Decepticons.

"Yes," Elita agreed, "and I believe Shockwave dubbed him a success. The file was heavily locked, so we weren't able to get many details."

Were Wingstar and his wing pretending to be Decepticons following Shockwave's orders? If they were, then what was Shockwave's goal? Was he planning to win the war and then overthrow Megatron? Internal strife among the Decepticons normally worked in the Autobots favor, but that wasn't the case if Megatron and Shockwave were competing over who could get the most kills.

"The information we have on Wingstar is the most intriguing," Elita continued. "That is… we have none."

"None," Optimus repeated sharply and leaned back. "How is that possible?"

"As far as the files in the Decepticon's mainframe and in ours go, Wingstar does not exist," Elita clarified. "He's a ghost. It's almost as if he just materialized on Cybertron one day, which is impossible."

Optimus lowered his helm from the monitor, optics dark as he thought over Elita's information.

Elita looked away from the monitor at a sound and then back at Optimus. "The Delta cell sent over some of their people to pick up their share of the energon they helped us get. They've arrived."

"I'll let you get to it," Optimus agreed, only half-paying attention as he thought over the implications of Elita's information.

"Goodbye Optimus," Elita said softly.

Optimus finally raised his helm, and smiled behind his mask. "Goodbye Elita."

Elita cut off the transmission on her end and Prime leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. Something very large was brewing here, something that involved those three mystery younglings. Something was coming, but what?

Elita turned away from her monitor as the member of Delta cell entered Alpha cell's command room. The female Autobots there greeted him warmly, and he returned their greetings with a smile and a wave that had an easy confidence. It wasn't easy for him to maneuver through the narrow doorway because of his wings, but he managed it.

"Commander Elita-One," the Delta cell operative greeted and bowed in the Vosian manner.

"Silverwing," Elita greeted the Seeker. "I am glad to see you made it here unharmed."

Silverwing smiled as he straightened, facing her with a warm smile. "As am I, Commander."

* * *

 **Yes, Silverwing who was mentioned in Chapter 12 is alive. Everyone thinks he's dead, and many, especially Starscream, would rather he be dead. He's not dead. Starscream might be happier thisway, since now he can try to kill Silverwing personally. I will remind you that Silverwing spent most of the nine million years of the war (the Vosian's joined the way a millennia after it started, after the royal family's death) with the Autobots. We know about Frenzy and Starscream. His criminal record extends far before the war, and will be revealed.**


	17. A View From Cybertron

Silverwing straightened from his bow, and stood across from against Elita-One with a relaxed stance. "I am here to collect the energon cubes for my cell."

"Of course," Elita agreed, "Chromia?"

"I'll get them," Chromia spoke up instantly and motioned for Firestar and Moonracer to help her.

Lancer stayed at her station and monitored the radar to make sure that Silverwing hadn't been followed, but Greenlight walked over to him.

"It's lucky you are so skilled in cyberspace," Silverwing told her by way of greeting. "I could never have gotten into their system without your assistance."

"I didn't do much," Greenlight said quickly and waved her hands between her and Silverwing. "Your virus did most of it, and you were able to guide it from outside cyberspace. It was almost like an AI."

"That was no AI," Silverwing assured her, "although AI's like Teletraan are easy to create."

AI's were of no interest to Silverwing. What he wanted was an ALife, an artificial lifeform with no spark and no connection to Primus. Despite inflicting Transformers from both Autobot and Decepticon ranks with a multitude of strains, only one virus had ever come close to that goal. The only one that showed merit had been his Berserker virus – B Program.

Elita let the two of them chat and turned back to her monitor as it shut down, ensuring the call to Optimus had not been traced. She was glad that Optimus hadn't pried as to the identity of the Seeker because Silverwing and Optimus had never gotten along. As a flier he was invaluable, but Optimus disliked what he did to prisoners.

When Optimus had realized that Silverwing had been experimenting on Frenzy while he was their prisoner, he had been furious. A decade after the incident with Frenzy, Silverwing had gone missing and been pronounced dead. Optimus had left with the other Autobots aboard the _Ark_ shortly thereafter, still believing Silverwing was dead.

Although Silverwing had been found barely online by the members of Delta cell, Elita had never told Optimus about it. Optimus learning that Silverwing was still online would only complicate things unnecessarily. She sighed softly in relief when the computer said that the transmission had not revealed Alpha cell's location.

Silverwing ran his fingers over the scar that ran horizontally across the bridge of his nose idly. It was a parting present from Starscream that he had never gotten repaired. From what Silverwing had told the Alpha cell, after Vos's royal family had been killed Silverwing had temporarily traveled from Iacon to Vos to check in on his people and his nephew, Prince Warsong.

He had warned Starscream, the current ruler of Vos with the royal family dead and Silverwing exiled, not to join forces with Megatron. His innocent plea had been met with Starscream shooting at him. Starscream had chased him all the way back to Iacon in an unprovoked attack, and Silverwing had survived only because he had managed to make it to the border and find Autobot reinforcements. The scar was a reminder to him that things had changed.

Silverwing had changed his appearance after that. Although his optics had been left their exotic silver color, the symbol that he was a descendent of Vos's royal family, the rest of his paint scheme had changed. His primary color was a dark storm grey and decorating his entire body were dark gold tiger stripes that vaguely resembled lightning bolts, each one edged in black. The dark scheme made his optics seem all the brighter, and highlighted the crimson Autobot insignias painted on his wings. Tattooed onto the back of each hand was an outline of a diamond in the same crimson color as his insignias.

"Are you sure you can get all the energon to Delta base by yourself?" Chromia asked Silverwing seriously as the last of the energon cubes were set down.

"This much won't be a problem for me," Silverwing assured her gently. "Besides, it's not like the Seekers will open fire on one of their own."

"So you did figure out a way to disguise yourself as a Decepticon," Greenlight remarked. "How did you do it?"

"A virus," Silverwing shrugged a normal answer for him. "Any Transformer using a Decepticon radar system will detect me as a Decepticon. The trick only works long-range, so if they get too close they'll realize I'm not on their side."

"Still," Moonracer smiled, "it's a neat trick."

"I am able to move around Cybertron relatively freely," Silverwing agreed. "The new wing is providing some trouble, but I've managed to stay far enough away for now. If they're far enough away I can blackout their radar so they don't see notice me as well."

"New wing?" Firestar interrupted. "There's a new wing?"

"Coldsnap and his wing," Silverwing filled them in. "They're the most recent valedictorian graduates. They're eager for a promotion and the best way to get a promotion is to capture Autobot rebels."

"You'd make a good prize," Greenlight warned him, "you're the only Seeker we rebels have on our side. Please be careful."

"Of course," Silverwing assured her and picked up the energon cubes.

"Silverwing," Elita spoke up as Silverwing straightened with the cubes in his arms.

"Yes Commander?" Silverwing asked respectfully.

"After you deliver the energon cubes to your cell can you check on Beta squad for me?" Elita asked, not phrasing it as an order. "They're almost a week past check-in and I'm worried that the Decepticons have found them. You don't have to land, but see if it's swarming with Decepticons. That will be proof enough."

"Beta cell," Silverwing repeated softly. "They're a four-man cell to the east, small."

"Every cell must seem small to you," Firestar pointed out. "Delta cell has nine members besides you. That's ten Autobots."

"Fair point," Silverwing agreed. "I'll check on them Elita."

Elita nodded and turned back to her monitor to think about the current situation, several of the rebel cells having been exposed by the Decepticons. If Beta cell had been exposed though then that would make it the fourth cell to suffer such a fate along with Theta, Epsilon, and Gamma cells. The most likely explanation was that there was a traitor, but Elita wasn't sure who the traitor could be.

While Elita thought the situation over, Silverwing left Alpha cell's base and headed back to Delta cell. Although Alpha cell was the most famous because it had female Autobots and Elita-One, Delta cell was able to cause the most damage. Having aerial support like Silverwing made all the difference for his cell. He was invaluable, and, naïve as the Autobots were, they didn't suspect anything.

Silverwing dropped off the energon, always welcome for the ten-man cell, and then left to follow Elita's orders. There were no Decepticons nearby when Silverwing landed in front of the entrance to Beta cell, so they couldn't be cutting off communications because they needed to go dark and avoid detection. They didn't answer his hail as he stood near the entrance, so with a sigh, he overrode the clearance to their base and entered. If they were all dead again he was going to be so disappointed.

It was pitch black inside and Silverwing's optics adjusted so he could see at night. Rather than draw a blaster, the diamond tattoo on his left hand glowed and he walked with the hand in front of him as if ready to strike at something. The sight that greeted him was of total destruction as if several wars had been fought at once. There was energon, scorch marks, damaged computers, and stray limbs lying all over the place.

Silverwing clapped a hand over his faceplate in exasperation when he saw the bodies of all four members of Beta cell. Wonderful, they had killed each other again. The light from the diamond faded as there was no enemy for him to fight. Another failed experiment. Would he ever get his virus to work correctly?

He activated the scanner in his left forearm and checked the bodies, confirming they had killed each other nine solar cycles ago. Silverwing tapped on the scanner, and a hologram projected itself into midair. It was a two-dimensional rectangular plane that displayed information, and Silverwing next tapped on the folder marked "B-Project."

The information on his Berserker virus appeared and Silverwing opened his list of test subjects. There were fifty-one names listed, and he scrolled down to the bottom to his most recent subjects. B-47 to B-50 were marked as Autobots with the letter A. Beside the letter A was the word Beta to signify they were from the Beta cell.

He changed the information and marked all four of them as deceased along with the date of death. The Berserker virus had driven them to the point where they had killed each other yet again, and the members of Beta cell had only lasted twelve days from the point of infection until their self-control had been overwhelmed and they had killed each other. Silverwing had been asked to create an ALife, and it was a challenge he had accepted in exchange for the power he got. Yet again however, his efforts had been thwarted.

The way his Berserker virus worked was that it suppressed the normal personality of the host and wrote a new one. This "dark" version of the host went on killing as it was supposed to do. Although an alter ego was created, it was had no independent will and no sentience of its own. Rather, it was an extension of the host that temporarily took control of the host's body.

Listed among the list of the test subjects were Autobots earmarked as belonging to the Theta, Epsilon, and Gamma cells. All of them had the word deceased under their status just as Beta cell now did. In fact, over ¾ of the B-Program test subjects were Autobots as they were the easiest subjects for him to find. Despite this, he had figured out that Decepticons tended to last longer with the B-Program. It took longer before their sense of self was overwhelmed and they killed like a mindless drone, mindless drone being the exact opposite of what Silverwing wanted to create, likely because they were more acclimated to violence.

Maybe he should try to capture Acidstorm and his Rainmaker wing, or Coldsnap's wing and infect them with the virus. Silverwing tucked the idea away for the future as he collected the needed information and uploaded it into his gauntlet. From a glance at the compiled information, the trend his Autobot subjects followed hadn't changed: snappy temperament, mistrust, arguments, small scuffles, and eventually full-blown slaughter where they killed each other.

Autobots just couldn't cope with the darkness. Maybe the only chance he stood at his Berserker program evolving into its own sentience was with using Decepticon hosts. Silverwing scrolled back up the list of subjects to the first Transformer he had infected, B-00. B-00 was the only one listed with a status that did not say 'deceased'. Rather, his status was unknown.

There was a letter D to signify he was a Decepticon, and Silverwing tapped his name. He was one of Soundwave's cassettes, name Frenzy. Silverwing wasn't sure what had happened to B-00 after he had been infected although he had noticed that shortly after B-00 was returned to the Decepticons, one of Soundwave's six cassettes had vanished and had not been seen since.

As B-00 had not been seen on the battlefield, it was plausible the berserker virus had made him kill until his spark gave out and he died as happened when it was just one test subject. Larger groups such as the Autobot rebels slaughtered each other. Soundwave had left with Megatron a decade after B-00 had been returned, chasing after Optimus Prime and the _Ark_.

Silverwing had no further data on Frenzy other than the preliminaries he had conducted when the cassette had been his prisoner. B-00 had meant not to be an experiment, but simply a way for Silverwing to check that his virus would take hold and infect its host. Was he still online after all this time? Certainly he had spent the past four million years in stasis, but he had been awake for a decade on Cybertron, and the war on Earth had been waging for two years already. His other subjects lasted a matter of days or weeks, so if B-00 really was still online after twelve years then it would be worth looking into.

Because Optimus Prime and Elita-One were so close, Alpha cell was the best place to get information on the war for Earth. Maybe next time he went, he could listen and see if one of the femmes mentioned Soundwave or his cassettes. He needed to find out if B-00, or Frenzy, was still alive. If he was, then it Silverwing should join Optimus Prime's troops on Earth.

Silverwing picked up one of the deceased Autobot's blasters and walked back to the entrance. Once under clear sky, he fired it twice into the air. His scanners said that there was a seeker wing nearby, and just as Silverwing predicted, they detected the discharge of Autobot fire and came to investigate. He dropped the blaster near the unlocked entrance to Beta cell and then took off and transformed to head back to Delta base.

On his way there, he sadly informed Elita-One that just as with Theta, Epsilon, and Gamma, Beta cell's base had been found by the Decepticons. Regrettably, just as with the other cells, the Decepticons had not taken prisoners and killed all Beta cell members.

* * *

Coldsnap knelt by the abandoned Autobot blaster and looked around. It appeared clear, so he radioed his wingmates, Crosscutter and Airwave, to come down and help him search. This was the fourth time they had seen mysterious discharge of Autobot weaponry, and if the pattern held then there should be a rebel base nearby. The three of them spread out with their scanners tuned, none of them contacting Shockwave until they actually found the rebel base.

"There's nothing here," Airwave tssked and turned off his scanner after several minute of looking, crossing his arms.

"You've only been looking for a few minutes," Coldsnap sighed. "The past three times this has happened we've found rebel cells nearby."

"Yes," Crosscutter agreed cautiously, "and we've found every single member of the cell dead inside."

"Someone's doing our job for us," Coldsnap agreed, "but still… It always looks like there was no intruder, and that the Autobots killed each other."

"Why would they do that?" Airwave asked and walked away, not looking where he was going. "Autobots are pacifists."

"I agree that something strange is going on here on Cybertron," Coldsnap reassured his wingmate. "Something very strange."

"Cut the ghost stories Coldsnap," Airwave ordered his wingleader. "There's probably just a traitor in the rebel's ranks working under Decepticon orders."

"I don't think it's that simple," Coldsnap said softly and lowered his scanner, "not at all."

Airwave turned around and walked backwards away from his wingleader. "Didn't I just tell you to drop the ghost…?"

Airwave's foot came down on empty air and his sentence cut off. With a yelp, he fell backwards, and his wingmates looked up just in time to see him vanish below the surface. They looked at each other, and then ran to where Airwave had fallen as they heard a colossal clang.

"Airwave!" They both shouted.

Airwave had found a hole in the ground amid the field of debris, and they leaned over rapidly to see if Airwave was alive. Crosscutter grabbed one of Coldsnap's wings when he leaned too far forward and almost fell down the hole alongside Airwave. He tugged Coldsnap to safety and they both looked over. They saw Airwave lying on his back at the bottom of the hole, limbs sprawled out.

"Airwave!" Coldsnap called down, "Are you alright?"

"Functional," Airwave muttered and raised a hand into the air.

He sat up and rubbed his helm with another tssk, looking at his wings to make sure they weren't too badly twisted.

"I think he just found the entrance to the rebel cell," Crosscutter observed with a chuckle. "Autobot rebels usually have their bases underground like this."

"There are more graceful ways to find it, but I'll take it," Coldsnap sat back.

Airwave looked around the tube and then at the open doors to one side. He tensed and snapped one of his rifles towards the interior, catching his wingmates' attention. Then he hesitated and lowered the rifle slightly.

"Airwave!" Coldsnap said urgently.

"I said I'm fine," Airwave repeated and stood, lowering his rifle fully. "It looks like you were right though Snap. We just found a nest of Autobot rebels."

"They're all dead aren't they," Crosscutter sighed.

"Four bodies in the entrance," Airwave called up by way of yes. "Give me a second to confirm they're rebels."

He walked inside the base of Beta cell and checked the bodies, seeing their Autobot insignias. There were no Decepticon bodies inside, and no Decepticon had called in this cell. Had they killed each other again as Coldsnap thought they were doing? A shiver ran down his frame and he tapped on the comm in his helm.

"They're all Autobots, doesn't look like there were intruders," he radioed Coldsnap.

"Again," Coldsnap said softly, and then glanced at Crosscutter, the wing medic. "Cross, radio Shockwave and tell him. We had better get a squad over here. There might be useful information in the base's records."

Crosscutter nodded and turned on the communicator in his helm while Coldsnap jumped down the tube after Airwave to have a look himself. The message was sent, and soon there were drones and other Seekers gathered around the entrance to the base. By the time scouts from Alpha cell arrived to confirm Silverwing's claim that Decepticons had located and killed Beta cell, the area was swarming with Decepticons.

It appeared to Chromia, Firestar, and Moonracer that Silverwing had been right. They returned to Alpha base before they were seen, not suspecting Silverwing's involvement in Beta cell's demise.

* * *

 **Silverwing's got a pretty neat setup, doesn't he? The story Silverwing told the Autobots about Starscream chasing him in an unprovoked assault is false. He fed that to the Autobots so they'd trust him. The story Thundercracker told Skywarp and Spitfire in Chapter 12 is the truth about Silverwing. Remember, Silverwing was exiled from Vos despite being Emperor Sunstrike's younger brother. Vos's prince did something pretty big to warrant banishment, far worse then killing Starscream's family and possibly setting up the royal family for execution, something that will be revealed.**

 **The unfortunate part of this is that Elita-One doesn't suspect Silverwing. She suspects other Autobots, ones that are actually innocent.**


	18. The Darkness Within

"This is insane," Amethyst shouted over the sound of raging gunfire as he nursed his left wing Slingshot had blasted off. "We're getting thrashed!"

 _*You can't expect to win every engagement*_ Darksky chided him and pulled the trigger of his rifle.

The Autobot named Brawn fell with his shot, but Darksky tssked, already aware that it wasn't a kill shot. He pulled the slide bolt back and put another of the bullets Mixmaster had made into the barrel. Then he looked back through the scope to find a new target. Amethyst sat on the ground behind him, alternatively wincing at the patch-job Darksky had done for his injuries and sulking because he had been taken out of the fight.

"I hope Wingstar's having better luck getting those lenses then we are distracting the Autobots," Amethyst muttered.

The Decepticons were currently deployed to some sort of laboratory to collect a set of special lenses Scrapper needed to upgrade Megatron's fusion cannon. Once he had those then he stood a chance at being able to wire the black diamond into Megatron's fusion cannon to amplify its power.

Superion and Bruticus traded blows on the ground while Thrust and Spitfire handled Powerglide and Skyfire. At the moment Spitfire was fighting Powerglide and Skyfire with Thrust, but the brothers could be posed against each other at any moment. Starscream and his wing were on the ground reinforcing Soundwave and the other Decepticons. Not counting the Aerialbots and the Autobots fighting in the sky there were seven opponents on the battlefield, six now that Darksky had hit Brawn.

Things could be going better, Darksky admitted as he looked over the battlefield with his scope. The Decepticons were being pushed back and would soon be forced to disengage. If Wingstar didn't find the lenses and get out soon, he'd be left behind.

Seeing an opportunity, Darksky shot at the Autobot called Hound. To his surprise, the bullet went through the hologram that looked like Hound and hit the ground. Darksky stared, and then sighed and rested his head on his forearm, chiding himself for forgetting that Hound could create illusions. This was why he needed to check his targets were real with his telepathy before shooting.

"You missed," Amethyst told him, shielding his optics against the afternoon sun with one hand to see farther.

"I know!" Darksky nearly shouted verbally in exasperation and loaded another bullet into his rifle with sharp movements.

Darksky wasn't having much luck with his rifle today, and his miserable fortune was of the same degree the rest of the Decepticons were having as they were forced back a few steps. Wingstar had better hurry.

 _*Wingstar is a little busy*_ Wingstar promised him over the wingbond as he dodged a sword strike from Sideswipe.

Darksky stopped trying to get a target lock on the real Hound and sighed again. It appeared that Sideswipe had remembered how they had split up back at the museum when they had stolen the black diamond, and realized they had split up again. Sideswipe had caught up to Wingstar, but that didn't mean much. The level of their skills was on two different ends of the scales.

Wingstar's creator, whoever he was since he had never spoken directly to Darksky or Amethyst, had programmed Wingstar with extensive knowledge. There was no way Wingstar could ever lose to anyone in a duel. In a shoot-off yes, certainly, but not with swords. Darksky believed that, and so picked the real Hound out of the crowd and pulled the trigger, content to trust Wingstar with this.

The red Autobot Ironhide got in front of Hound, and Darksky looked aghast as the bullet hit Ironhide. Because of the angle Ironhide was standing it merely hurt his shoulder instead of killing Hound as it would have otherwise done.

"Really?" Darksky muttered and loaded another bullet into the rifle. "Damn Autobots focus on your own fight and stop getting in my way."

Amethyst didn't say that Darksky had missed again, fortunate for him because at this point Darksky might have turned around and shot _him_. He hoped Wingstar was managing better, and that he would make himself scarce soon. It didn't look like the Decepticons could hold out much longer, and Darksky's sloppy aim was only helping the Autobots.

Rumble had disengaged from the fight and snuck into the laboratory unnoticed, looking for Wingstar. He didn't have many illusions about being able to do much, but maybe he could get the lenses or provide some cover fire. Anything would be helpful at this point.

 _*Keep your distance*_ Darksky warned Rumble. _*Sideswipe's trying to take Wingstar's head off as revenge for his twin. You'll be the sacrifice instead if you get involved.*_

Rumble froze mid-step, astonished that Darksky's telepathy had developed to the point where he could speak with those outside of his wing. Then he kept walking, holding both of his blasters in his hands.

 _*I'll just steal the lenses*_ Rumble assured Darksky. _*Wingstar can focus on the fight then instead of fighting_ and _protecting them.*_

Darksky pulled the trigger of his rifle, hitting Mirage in the lower chest and forcing him out of his invisible state before he could ambush Starscream. Since Mirage wasn't human, it wasn't a kill shot. Only a direct hit to the spark chamber guaranteed a kill, but it was hard to aim at something invisible, even with his telepathy. When he hit the Autobot, the invisibility faded and orange light like the outlined edges of a rectangle he stood in the center of flashed as Mirage entered the visible spectrum again.

 _*Stay out of the fight*_ Darksky repeated his warning to Rumble and then sent him Wingstar and Sideswipe's location.

Rumble didn't have any qualms with that, and followed the layout Darksky gave him. He doubled over in pain suddenly when Soundwave was hit, a reaction felt by all five of Soundwave's cassettes. Frenzy, the only one not deployed on the battlefield cringed inside Soundwave's chest compartment. Soundwave shot back at Blaster, returning the favor of the hit.

Everyone else was fighting the Autobots, but Frenzy couldn't do anything but watch. Soundwave had just gotten hurt, and still Frenzy could only watch. Why did he have to have that program that made him so dangerous to his family? Why couldn't he help?

Blaster and Hound suddenly fired at the same time, and both shots hit Soundwave in the chest. The glass of his chest compartment shattered and Frenzy was thrown onto the battlefield. He transformed and landed on his feet, sliding backwards and drawing one of his blasters out of old instinct as Soundwave fell back. They had hurt Soundwave!

 _*Frenzy, make yourself scarce*_ Buzzsaw ordered him.

 _*We'll handle the Autobots*_ Ravage growled agreement and the panther abandoned tearing into Brawn, energon dripping his teeth and muzzle.

The other cassettes needed to reinforce Frenzy before he lapsed again and Silverwing's program activated. That would cause Dark Frenzy to wake up and start killing. Here on the battlefield, Dark Frenzy would be positively lethal. Ravage could also tell instantly that Soundwave was too badly damaged to force Dark Frenzy's programming to sleep. If Frenzy lapsed, then they'd have to find Starscream and have him use his null ray, but would it work? Last time it had taken three hits to down Dark Frenzy.

Frenzy held one of his blasters in his left hand at Blaster, the closest enemy, and fell into a fighting stance. He couldn't, wouldn't let the Autobots hurt Soundwave. His hand holding the blaster was shaking though, and the sounds of battle, the steady stream of shots, occasional sound of pain when a hit landed, and metal being twisted or blown off by injury, were catching up to him. It was overwhelming.

Blaster held his weapon in hand, but hesitated when he saw the cassette's hand shaking. Wasn't he going to shoot? Now that Blaster thought about it, Frenzy wasn't deployed to the battlefield very often. Could he really pull the trigger?

Slowly, Blaster lowered the tip of his blaster a few degrees towards the ground, but Ironhide fired before Blaster could do anything else. Ironhide's shot knocked the blaster out of Frenzy's hand and it must not have been a neat shot from the way Frenzy howled and pain and cradled his injured hand to his chest. He looked down at his hand as energon seeped from the damage to the ground as if he was in shock, which he might have been in.

"Careful Blaster," Ironhide called over to him.

Blaster nodded almost apologetically, but couldn't say anything before a bolt from a blaster hit Ironhide right in the eye and knocked him to the ground instantly. The suddenness of the attack made Blaster start and he looked back to see that Frenzy had drawn his second blaster from his back and shot. A metal claw slid out over his damaged left hand and energized to an eerie black color. Frenzy's hand wasn't shaking now, in fact, the mini-cassette smiled. Something about how sharp his smile was, as if Frenzy was going to look forward to killing, chilled Blaster's spark.

Rumble stopped running down the halls despite being close enough to hear the sounds of combat from Sideswipe and Wingstar, and looked back the way he had come. "Frenzy?"

Too late, Ravage thought to himself grimly as Frenzy leaped at Blaster with that same smile.

Blaster fired naturally, but Frenzy managed to move in midair and dodge one, fluidly deflecting the other back at Blaster by catching it along the edge of his energized claw. Whatever Blaster was expecting, it wasn't to have his attack bounce back and it hit him in the chest close to his sparkchamber. Frenzy's claw did not miss his spark when he struck a second later, and even as Blaster fell and Hound shot, Frenzy dodged. He did a sideways somersault without his hands touching the ground and fired at Hound while in midair.

His shot went through an illusion, but the smile Frenzy had didn't fade as he landed lightly on his feet. In fact, he lowered his helm and focused on the sounds of battle. Hound shot, and Frenzy turned and reflected the shot right back at a piece of debris that had fallen from the damaged lab. Hound grunted as he was flung backwards through a wall, hologram failing. Frenzy's reflected shot actually had more of a kick to it than the shot itself.

Rumble turned and ran back the way he came, terrified now. Frenzy had lapsed and Soundwave wasn't conscious. How were they going to stop Dark Frenzy this time?

Frenzy ran lightly with the same smile as he passed by several seekers and went towards a pair of Autobots under fire. Smokescreen and Bluestreak realized the new threat, and Bluestreak focused on it while Smokescreen tried to hit one of the seekers. Bluestreak by himself was of no concern to Frenzy, and the cassette was able to dance around or deflect every shot. When he saw an opening, he shot, back and his shot hit Bluestreak's blaster and forced him to drop it before it blew up in his hand.

"What's going on?" Bluestreak demanded as his blaster destroyed itself.

"I don't know," Smokescreen admitted. "Maybe this'll slow him down."

He passed Bluestreak his blaster so he would have one, and then transformed and drove towards Frenzy, venting his magnetic smoke. Frenzy didn't even seem to notice the smoke as it encircled him and cut off his ability to see. He simply off lined his optics, and shot one of Smokescreen's tires. Smokescreen slid away, but recovered before he could roll over. His opponent was faster and tore a jagged gash through Smokescreen's hood and engine before back flipping away to dodge a shot from another Autobot.

"Got ya," Bluestreak said quietly and pulled the trigger.

Frenzy was bringing his optics back online, and amazingly enough, Bluestreak's shot connected. Ravage looked in horror as Frenzy stumbled sideways from the shot, fragments of the visor he wore over his optics flying through the air. The force made Frenzy collapse onto his knees, and energon dripped from his faceplate where the shot had hit him. His systems told him it was just a glancing blow that had clipped his glasses though, so Frenzy smiled again and stood.

Bluestreak hesitated in shooting again when Frenzy stood. A few more shards of his visor fell to the ground, revealing that while the glass was tinted red his optics were not Decepticon crimson. In fact, Frenzy's optics were currently the perfect sky blue color of Autobot optics.

Frenzy shook his head, and then raised his blaster and fired. This time though, he didn't fire at an Autobot, but turned and shot Thundercracker. His shot shattered Thundercracker's cockpit and made the larger seeker stumble back and trip over his feet. The Autobots hesitated, unsure what was going on.

A well-placed shot from Laserbeak knocked the blaster from Frenzy's hand before he could shoot at anyone else, and Ravage paced around him. Frenzy looked first at Ravage and then up at Laserbeak, Buzzsaw having flown to check on Soundwave. He didn't stand down or look fazed, but kept up that smile and unlocked his second claw over his right hand. It energized itself with a black aura just like the first one.

Light shimmered and distorted near Thundercracker, and Skywarp materialized beside him with a teleport. He took one look at Thundercracker and smirked.

"He got you good," Skywarp snickered.

"SHUT UP!" Thundercracker shouted, cranky from how the battle was going like all the other Decepticons were.

Skywarp looked down when he realized Thundercracker was still losing energon from the wound, and he swallowed. "H-hey TC, you're losing a _lot_ of energon. Are you okay? Oi! Where's Darksky?"

 _*Busy*_ Darksky projected to Skywarp. _*Ravage, I have my scope on Frenzy. Do you want me to shoot?*_

 _*No*_ Ravage replied rapidly.

 _*It's not a kill shot*_ Darksky assured him. _*Soundwave is in stasis, and Starscream is preoccupied. Do you have another way to stop him?*_

Skywarp wondered for a moment what Darksky was talking about until a stray shot from Optimus Prime's rifle went over their heads. Starscream had slid back, facing off against Prime. One of his wings was torn to shreds from taking a hit by Prime's rifle earlier and it was obvious he wasn't fit to transform. Prime would shoot him down if he tried to fly off, so he was stuck facing off against him. Neither had even realized Frenzy had lapsed into his berserker state. To be facing off against Prime, even under these circumstances… Skywarp had known Starscream was mentally unbalanced, but he had no idea he was this insane.

 _*Cover Starscream*_ Ravage ordered Darksky. _*We'll handle Frenzy.*_

Darksky trusted that the cassettes knew what they were talking about, and so shifted his rifle towards where Starscream was fighting against Prime. Unsurprisingly, Starscream wasn't winning. Starscream was debating using another of his cluster bombs against Prime, but knew he couldn't waste a shot unless he knew it would connect.

Frenzy looked at the three cassettes around him and raised his blades fractionally. He wasn't smiling anymore, and had clenched his teeth in frustration. Rumble appeared to stand opposite of Ravage.

"No," Frenzy whispered hoarsely.

The fact that he spoke startled the other cassettes as they were aware Frenzy had never said anything in his berserker state before. Rumble looked a little hopeful that it was a sign Frenzy was managing to rein in control of the program himself. It wasn't that at all though.

"No," Frenzy repeated and shook his helm, actually taking a step back. "I won't let you."

His voice was stronger this time.

 _*Frenzy*_ Rumble said softly. _*Are you getting control?*_

It would be a first if he was.

"No," Frenzy repeated a third time and put his hands to his helm as if that would block out their telepathy. "I won't let you lock me away again!"

 _*That's impossible*_ Laserbeak thought quietly.

That wasn't Frenzy, Rumble realized with a start. Rather, it was Frenzy's berserker programming not wanting to be shut down. Laserbeak was right about this not being possible. The berserker program, Dark Frenzy, was _speaking_.

How could it do that though? It wasn't sentient and it didn't have a mind of its own. It was just Frenzy with his will suppressed, right?

The other cassettes felt Soundwave's consciousness return, and knew he was out of stasis. Darksky sat back and helped Soundwave sit up, a strong telepathic link between the master and student to mentally support Soundwave. Amethyst was beside the medic with rifles primed should the Autobots try and attack. Buzzsaw stood on the ground beside him, but turned to face Frenzy with his guardian. Soundwave reached out telepathically, a move copied by the other cassettes, to disengage the berserker program.

"No!" Frenzy, Dark Frenzy, shouted in a voice that might be described as desperate.

His Autobot blue optics turned Decepticon crimson and then went offline as Frenzy collapsed, soundly in stasis. Rumble exhaled in relief, pained that he had needed to do that to Frenzy. The shock of that would take some time to wear off even once he was awake.

Bluestreak seemed to realize the danger was over and so cautiously looked out from his hideout with Smokescreen's blaster, taking aim at Rumble, the cassette nearest to him, with it. His blaster was promptly shot out of his hand by Amethyst, and at the same time Amethyst fired, Darksky pulled the trigger of his sniper rifle. Darksky's shot skimmed the side of Starscream's helm before hitting Prime just below the neck. It did some damage, but was far from a kill shot. Darksky wasn't surprised.

That was about the moment when Superion finally landed a solid enough hit to make Bruticus fell apart into its Combaticon components and Wingstar appeared from inside the lab. He shot once over his shoulder, sword in one hand and the lens Megatron needed in the other.

"Time to go," Darksky muttered.

Starscream agreed, and took off into the sky with a cry of "Decepticons, retreat!"

Wingstar transformed and took off while Skywarp helped Thundercracker stand and followed. Laserbeak picked up Frenzy in his claws and the cassettes and Soundwave followed. Spitfire and Skyfire were able to leave without trading shots, and Prime held up a hand to signal to the Autobots to let the Decepticons go.

There was a crash from the building and then Sideswipe ran outside with his sword and blaster in his hands a minute too late. Energon was splattered on his frame from numerous injuries, and dripped off his sword blade from where he had struck Wingstar. He looked around desperately for Wingstar and then up. When he saw the retreating Decepticons, he tightened his grip on his sword hilt.

"Sideswipe," Prime called to the red Lamborghini before he took off after the Decepticons. "We have beaten them. Let them go."

"But Prime!" Sideswipe demanded.

"There is no reason to chase after them," Prime repeated in a firmer voice. "They've been defeated."

"Hardly," Sideswipe shook his helm. "Wingstar was after something from the lab, and he got it."

That meant the Decepticons had retreated after completing their objective. Prime sighed and then looked around the battlefield. All six of the Autobots with him were injured, two by Darksky's rifle, but what had injured the other four?

"Crazy cassette," Bluestreak said as he stood. "I didn't know there were any berserkers here."

"A berserker?" Optimus repeated as the Autobots checked themselves and their injured comrades while Skyfire landed.

"Yeah," Bluestreak agreed. "One of Soundwave's cassettes. It was weird though. It almost looked like the berserker program had a mind of its own, and didn't want to get turned off."

Prime hadn't known that Soundwave had a cassette with berserker programming.

"It was out of control to," Bluestreak continued talking as he always did. "The berserker program downed one of the Decepticons in between Autobots."

Prime let Bluestreak continue to talk as he would inevitably do, and looked over the injuries to his four Autobots. All of them were still alive thankfully, but their injuries looked consistent as if they were made by the same Transformer. Blaster had the worst injury of them all, and he needed immediate medical attention. He assumed it was the berserker cassette as the more critically wounded were loaded onto Skyfire so they could be air-lifted back to _Ark_.

There was nothing in Teletraan about a berserker stationed with the Decepticons. Maybe he could ask Elita if there was information in the files her people had stolen from the Decepticon mainframe. Before he could do that though he needed to assure the humans that the Decepticons wouldn't be coming back, so he turned away and went back to the lab. Sideswipe slammed his sword against the wall of the building, tearing a jagged wound in it, and then stalked off while Prime approached the humans from the lab that had crept out of hiding.

Soundwave, Frenzy, Thundercracker, and Starscream were in Spitfire's hold so they didn't have to fly, and Darksky was looking them over. His guardian's injuries worried Rumble, but not as much as Frenzy did. Rumble had the same bad feeling that Optimus had, but he had a reason for it.

The berserker program had warned them not to "lock him up" again when Soundwave had tried to suppress it. Not only was it becoming harder to shut down the berserker program once Frenzy lapsed, it seemed to be developing a mind of its own. How could it have its own will though?

Starscream was right when he had warned Soundwave there had been nothing wrong with his nullray. It had taken three shots to put Frenzy in stasis because his berserker program was evolving. Dark Frenzy was evolving.

* * *

 **It's just what Silverwing wants and Frenzy fears. Dark Frenzy is... not exactly an asset on the battlefield. I thought that the Decepticons were winning too easily, so they got thrashed in this battle. The view will start to include events on Cybertorn as well as what's happening on Earth so you get both sides of the story instead of just one.**


	19. Ten Million Years Ago (Part 1)

"We are going to get into so much trouble," a silver-colored seeklet warned a golden one as they flew through Vos's airways.

Since they were only seeklets in a frame no bigger than a human they couldn't transform, but were able to fly in their root forms relatively well. The silver one had temporarily changed his optics to yellow, a common color for a flier of Vos, and his golden companion was wearing a tinted visor that made his optics look orange. They landed on one of the roofs in Vos and looked around, trying to figure out where to go next.

"We're lost aren't we?" The silver seeklet asked his brother beside him.

The gold Seeklet gave a start at the accusation, and looked away, rubbing the back of his helm. "Well, we never had a destination in mind. We were just getting away from the adults for a while. It's not like we aren't able to find our way home."

"The Air Warriors are probably going to find us first," the silver one muttered to his older brother darkly. "Once our parents find out we went out on our own they'll be contacted."

"You worry too much," the gold seeklet scolded him. "We're just out here to have some fun and get away from lessons."

"Do you even know a place to _have fun_ here?" The silver seeklet demanded.

"N-no," the older one stuttered again and looked around, trying to find a way out of his brother's piercing glare. "Hey, about we ask him?"

"Ask who?" The silver seeklet demanded.

The gold one tapped his brother's small wings and pointed across the airway. Buildings in Vos were large and well spread, and typically, the higher ranked you were the higher up you lived. Stairs were hard to find, and as it was a city of fliers, everyone flew everywhere. Across one of the aerial "streets" there was another seeklet sleeping on a roof.

Vos was one of the most stable and secure of all of Cybertron's city-states, mostly because it was independent and didn't take orders from the Senate in Iacon. It was fairly common for Seeklets to be by themselves as nothing would happen to them, and this seeklet had lowered his guard enough that he had actually fallen asleep. No one bothered him.

It was a tri-colored seeker predominantly white-grey with sky blue and crimson subcolors. He was curled on his side with his winglets sticking out behind him, head resting on one arm. The Seeklet didn't stir as the brothers flew across the street and landed to either side of him, obviously a deep sleeper.

The older brother knelt and gently shook one of the tri-colored seeker's wing, stirring him. He made a noise of complaint, but eventually onlined his optics and turned his head to look up at his visitors. His optics were a dark sapphire with traces of gold mixed in, a very rare coloration for a Vosian.

"What do you want?" The Seeklet asked them mildly.

"Um," the older brother suddenly wasn't sure what to say.

"You're lost, aren't you?" The tri-colored Seeker sighed and sat up. "Where are you trying to go?"

"Nowhere in particular," the silver seeker sighed and spoke up for his brother.

His brother nodded his helm. "We've escaped from our home for a bit and simply want to look around the city. Do you know a good place to go to relax?"

The tri-colored Seeker looked up absentmindedly. "Yeah, I suppose so. What are your names?"

The brothers stuttered suddenly, knowing it would be dangerous to give their real names.

"Never mind," their temporary guide told them and stood when they hesitated. "It doesn't really matter."

He checked his chronometer with a thoughtful look. "There's a place nearby where I'm supposed to meet up with my friends. If you want to follow me then you can."

"Thanks," the gold seeklet told him.

The tri-colored seeker took them to a building not far away close to the top of the line of roofs. Like the other buildings in Vos, it had wide entryways to accommodate wings, and small interiors with large balconies or other places open to the sky. There was a sign that said the name of the place was _Osprey's_.

"Is this a bar?" The silver seeklet asked curiously as the three of them landed in front of the doorway.

"No," their guide promised them and walked in.

With a glance at each other, the brother's followed. It was well-lit inside with tables set up and a bar near the counter, although true to their guide's word there was no high-energon drinks lining the wall behind the counter as there would be in a bar. The place looked more like a café then a bar, and there were three other seeklets inside.

A blue and black one was sitting at the counter drinking what looked to be an energon shake, and the other two sat at a table on top of a table. One with an impatient look was bright red and gold one and he had an impatient look, while the silver and green seeklet next to him looked depressed.

The two at the table looked over at their entry and the red and gold hopped off the table. "Finally. You're late again Starscream."

The tri-colored seeker with the brothers shrugged, and the red and gold one scowled.

"What? You get tired and take a nap on a rooftop somewhere again?" He demanded.

"It's not like anything would happen to me, Strafe," Starscream dismissed the red and gold seeklet's annoyance casually. "This isn't Kaon or Iacon, it's Vos."

The silver and green seeker quietly tried to stand and inch away, but the red and gold one, Strafe evidently, grabbed one of his wings.

"You're not going anywhere Scattershot," Strafe promised him. "Remember? We're going to help teach you how to fly today."

Scattershot shook his helm rapidly. "You know what, I think I'll learn another day."

"You have _got_ to be the only flier on Cybertron that's scared of heights," Scattershot accused him. "You're a Vosian so you're going to have to learn to fly eventually."

"St-Starscream," Scattershot stuttered helplessly.

"Strafe has a point," Starscream responded in the same casual tone, leaving the brothers to believe correctly that not much broke Starscream's relaxed demeanor.

"You're no help," Strafe accused Starscream and started dragging Scattershot outside.

"H-hey," Scattershot whined. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to throw you off the balcony," Strafe snapped as if it were obvious.

His words did not calm Scattershot down and the skittish Seeklet managed to jerk his wing free and bolt. He jumped over the bar, scaring the blue seeklet sitting there, and turned invisible before he even vanished behind the counter. The sudden invisibility act startled the brothers, and they were surprised to see such a rare ability.

"Now you did it," Starscream sighed. "It's going to take forever for him to calm down enough to drop his stealth program."

"Well you're a lot of help," Strafe accused Starscream. "Scared of heights or not, every seeklet learns to fly by getting thrown off the roof or something like that. Their flight system kicks in and then they're fine. If it doesn't then the others with him catch him. Sheesh, it's not like I'd really let him fall if his flight systems didn't kick in."

Starscream shook his helm, and Strafe stalked over to stand in front of him, demanding he be told another way to teach a seeklet how to fly. The brothers were standing there awkwardly as the other two argued, if you could call it arguing since Starscream didn't seem the least bit ruffled, until the blue seeklet at the counter waved them over.

"Do those two always do that?" The gold seeklet asked the blue one.

The blue seeklet nodded yes, and took a sip of his energon shake. "I'm Thundercracker by the way, but you can just call me TC, everyone else does."

"Thundercracker?" The silver brother repeated.

"I know," TC sighed, "it's long."

The volume rose as Starscream's unbothered aura ruffled Strafe even more.

"Nothing much bothers him, does it?" The gold Seeklet asked TC.

"Starscream?" TC confirmed, "Nope. He always stays calm like that, and Strafe has no patience."

"I suppose it balances out," the silver brother mused.

TC nodded agreement, and leaned over behind the counter. "Scattershot, if you're still there your wingmates are too busy arguing with each other to notice if you leave."

"Wingmates?" The silver seeklet repeated again while the gold one looked at the surface of the counter as he thought something over.

"Yeah," TC replied, "these three would be a wing if they had to."

"Osprey," the gold Seeklet interrupted suddenly. "I knew I heard that name before. Wasn't he one of the generals among the Vosian Air Warriors before he retired?"

"Yes," Scattershot's voice piped up quietly without dropping his invisibility. "I'm his fosterling."

"What about your real parents?" The gold Seeklet asked curiously.

It was quiet from Scattershot's end and TC looked at his shake. There was a glow of orange light like the outlined edges of a rectangle Scattershot was in the middle of, and Scattershot suddenly appeared sitting on the counter in the visible spectrum.

"I don't know them," Scattershot said softly. "Osprey found me on the ground level three centuries ago, and him finding me is the first memory I have. He doesn't understand why I already have a power rectifier chip with such a powerful stealth system, but it doesn't really matter. I like being here with him, helping with the café. When I'm older I might end up the owner."

"I said the three S seekers here would likely form a wing, but I doubt they'd ever get together like that," TC corrected himself. "You know Scattershot is fine here, and although Strafe is going to enroll in the Air Warrior's Academy once he's old enough I don't think Starscream has much of an interest in war. He likes stopping by the Crystal City in Tarn, and I think he'd rather be in a lab."

The brothers looked back over at where Starscream and Strafe were still arguing, and TC glanced up at Scattershot.

"You know," TC reminded him, "they really wouldn't let you fall if your flight systems didn't come online."

"I'm fine," Scattershot repeated rapidly and looked down at his hands in his lap.

TC shrugged that he had tried and finished off his energon shake. Scattershot took the tall glass from TC and hopped behind the counter to put it with the other dishes. The gold brother smiled while the silver one looked away in annoyance. He came back at about the same time Starscream and Strafe finally stopped arguing and came and sat at the counter with the others, Strafe looked annoyed.

"Hey TC," Starscream said causally, "Aren't you supposed to be home by now?"

"Eh?" TC checked his chronometer and then heaved a huge sigh that he had lost track of time. "Oh Primus, you're right. I better go before my sister come drags me home again."

"Doesn't she have a youngling frame now?" Strafe asked.

TC nodded, "yeah, and she's got the hang of transforming. I won't be getting my youngling frame for a while yet. Bye."

The other Seekers said goodbye, and TC walked to the landing platform and hopped off, flying towards his home. He looked a little depressed. Only a few seconds after he left three full-grown Vosians flew by and landed on the platform.

The brothers looked through the open wall to see a wing of three landing. They had energon rifles mounted under their wings, and rank stripes on the surface of their wings. Vos's symbol was painted onto the center of each wing in dark blue, making it obvious that they were Air Warriors.

"Air Warriors," the gold brother whispered and leaned back as if suddenly spooked.

"That was fast," the silver brother muttered under his breath.

Starscream noticed their negative reactions and glanced at them. "Are you in trouble with them?"

"No real trouble," the gold Seeklet assured Starscream, and fiddled with his visor as if tempted to remove it and reveal his silver optics of a royal by way of explanation. "We just… don't want to go home."

The wing of Air Warriors walked to the entrance, and both brothers scrambled over the counter to hide behind it, surprising two of the three seeklets present. Starscream glanced after them and then leaned against the counter casually as if they weren't hiding anything.

The Air Warriors entered, and looked around, their optics settling on the cluster of sparklings.

Scattershot stood on the counter and smiled as he recognized them. "Hi Deltastorm, can I help you?"

"Yeah Scattershot," the wingleader replied. "Is Osprey here?"

"He's in the back," Scattershot turned to jump off the counter. "Want me to get him?"

"No actually," Deltastorm said, surprising Scattershot. "We're just looking for a pair of seeklets that have run away from home, two brothers, one gold and the other silver."

"Two seeklets, huh?" Starscream thought it over.

The brothers tensed behind the counter. Of all the Air Warrior wings that could have found them, it had to be Deltastorm's. Deltastorm was one three Air Generals who served directly under the current Air Commander and acted like second in commands for them. His wing was the most famous of the general wings, and arguably the most powerful working with his wingmates. They were going to be in so much trouble if Deltastorm found them.

"I'm afraid we haven't seen anyone matching that description," Starscream said apologetically. "Sorry."

"That's all right," Deltastorm sighed. "Those two aren't proving very easy to find. Scattershot-"

"I'll pass word to Osprey," Scattershot promised.

Deltastorm nodded, "all right then. Sorry to have bothered you three."

"It's no problem," Starscream assured Deltastorm calmly.

Strafe watched them leave enviously, looking from the wing stripe that denoted rank to the shoulder mounted rifles. Starscream waited until they had left and then leaned over the counter where the brothers were hiding.

"They've gone," Starscream promised them. "It's safe for you to come out Sunstrike, Silverwing."

"Huh?" Scattershot and Strafe demanded at the same time.

"T-t-the princes?" Scattershot stuttered.

"Yes," Starscream told his friends, "am I right?"

The gold seeklet, crown prince Sunstrike, and the silver seeklet, his younger brother prince Silverwing, both stood shyly.

"How did you figure it out?" Sunstrike asked Starscream, "We never said our names."

"Which is one of the reasons why," Starscream told them. "Being too scared to say your name is suspicious, so you should have given me aliases. Besides, Silverwing has holoprojectors built into the sides of his helm to make his optics look a different color, which are active, and you're wearing a visor Sunstrike. When I asked you why the Air Warriors were looking for you, you almost took it off as if your eye color might explain a few things."

Silverwing and Sunstrike looked at each other, impressed, and Scattershot and Strafe smiled. That was Starscream.

"Nothing gets by you," Sunstrike asked him softly as he unclipped his visor from his helm, "does it?"

When Sunstrike took off the visor he revealed his optics were a bright silver, the color of Vos's royal family. Silverwing turned off the holoprojectors, revealing his optics were the same shade. Although you could artificially change your optic color to all sorts of colors, silver was one color that could not be created artificially. Only those born with the right sequence in their spark could have silver optics, and it was a sequence unique to Vos's royal family. That eye color was all the proof that Starscream needed that he was right.

"Nope," Strafe slugged one of Starscream's wings lightly. "That's our Starscream. He'd make a great Air Commander."

"Me? The Air Commander? "Starscream repeated and shook his head, "you've got your head in the clouds."

Scattershot giggled, and Strafe glared at him. "You know, I can still throw you off the balcony."

Scattershot stopped giggling at that and slid away from him on the countertop, ready to turn his stealth system back on should he need to.

"You're not more surprised that we're the princes?" Sunstrike asked sharply. "I thought you'd react… differently."

"Well," Strafe admitted. "I get why the Air General didn't mention that the princes have gone missing, but they don't go looking for normal sparklings. You two would have to be pretty special to warrant him being sent to search for you."

"Oh," Prince Sunstrike looked away. "I guess that's true."

Prince Silverwing sighed, "I told you this wouldn't last long."

That was the moment when Osprey, a white and pale grey seeker in his adult frame, finally walked in from the back where he had been looking over inventory. He wasn't surprised to see Starscream and Strafe present, but he was a little startled to see that there were two seeklets behind the counter. When he saw their royal silver eyes he was even more surprised, and he yelped, stepping backwards into a doorframe with a clang.

"There," Sunstrike waved his hand towards Osprey's startled appearance. "That's how I thought you'd react Starscream."

"The princes," Osprey whispered, and then he straightened and called out. "Scattershot! What is going on here?"

Starscream shook his helm and exchanged a smile with Prince Sunstrike. It was the first time they had met, but this would be far from the last instance Sunstrike and Silverwing would sneak away from the palace and come to _Osprey's_ to get away from the rules and lessons the princes had to attend. Sunstrike would come far more often than Silverwing as he was under more pressure for being the crown prince, and he came often enough that he would be dragged into the childhood chaos that Starscream, Scattershot, and Strafe got into.

Starscream would come to be one of Prince, and later Emperor, Sunstrike's closest friends.

* * *

 **In my story, Starscream was Regent to Emperor Sunstrike, and after the death of the royal family he became the leader of Vos. That's why he's Megatron's Air Commander and why he's still alive. Megatron can't kill him without alienating the Seekers - which make up well over half of his army. The Seekers are loyal to Starscream initially because they like him, and later only out of respect for the memory of Sunstrike whom appointed him to that position.**

 **Some of you were wondering _how_ Starscream became the Regent of Vos. This is the start of how, and there are other parts that explain the past. The chapters titled "Ten Million Years Ago" did take place ten million years ago before this current civil war when the characters are children. It also explains a little more about Silverwing, one of the antagonists of this story.**

 **A Seeklet is the equivalent of a Sparkling - a Transformer "child." They have "winglets," nonfunctional wings sticking out of their back. Winglets help the flier-to-be adapt to wings when they are full grown. Younglings are like teenagers, and Wingstar and his wing are in this frame. After one advances from their Seeklet frame they get a Youngling one, and it is this one they learn to transform and properly fly in. _Then_ they move onto the adult frame.**


	20. Silverwing's Orders

"A berserker on Earth?" Silverwing repeated the question and looked up from the PADD in his hands. "I don't know of one."

"Well according to Elita there is one." The communication officer for the Delta cell of rebel Autobots, a femme minibot named Echo, promised him. "She just got a communication from Prime asking about it. One of Soundwave's cassettes took out four Autobots."

"Was anyone killed?" Silverwing asked in a concerned voice as his thoughts flashed to the unknown status of B-00.

Echo shook her helm. There was a PADD tucked under one arm as there always seemed to be, and a pair of roller-skates mounted on her feet that let her glide around Silverwing. Her blue eyes weren't hidden by her semi-transparent rose-pink tinted visor, and they were bright as ever. They were just as bright as her turquoise, hot pink, and buttermilk paint scheme. A feather-shaped fin made of silver metal was attached to either side of her helm where her ears would be if she were human, and right now, they were in their normal position of being swept back slightly from a vertical position.

"Blaster took a bad hit to his spark and a piece of it broke off, but he should be fine after an extended rest period." Echo assured him and twirled in place one on her skates as if they were figure skates to disperse a little energy. "No need to worry so far."

"A shardling, eh?" Silverwing mused.

"Shardling?" Echo repeated in her windchime-like voice and tilted her head to one side. "I think I've heard that word before, but I can't remember what it is. What's a shardling?"

"It's a Transformer created when a piece of a spark breaks off and stabilizes, becoming its own unique entity." Silverwing explained, knowing all about shardlings since he had experimented with them to try to make his artificial transformer. "They're rare, and it's hard to create a stable one. The new Transformer will probably be a microcassette or minibot though, considering that their spark is just a small fragment."

"I'll pass word back to Elita," Echo promised and made a note on her PADD.

"By the way," Silverwing added as Echo scribbled the note down. "Are you sure it's one of Soundwave's cassettes with the berserker program?"

Echo nodded and lowered her PADD once she finished writing, replacing her stylus. "Prime wants to know if there's any record of him in the Decepticon files you and Greenlight stole. His name's Frenzy."

Silverwing went still as Echo double-checked the information on her PADD and nodded conformation that was his name.

"I'll look into it," Silverwing recovered and assured her.

"Great," Echo said in her ever-cheerful voice with a bright smile.

She started to leave, and then stopped.

"I just remembered where I heard the word Shardling," Echo said in a concerned voice, the fins on either side of her helm swept back at a more severe angle. "Isn't the Chimera from legend a Transformer made of dozens of shards from different sparks fused together into a single being? A Shardling so to speak?"

"That's right," Silverwing agreed. "Chimera is a nickname given to a creature created like that, said to be the perfect super warrior. Of course, there has never been any proof that a Chimera was created. The Seers faction experimented with the theory before the war, and I recall that they claimed they created one. They say it escaped with a large group of their other experiments though, and it's never actually been seen."

Echo held her PADD close to her chest and crossed her arms over it protectively, fins swept back so they almost pointed to the ground in distress. "How horrible. They were actually trying to make a Chimera? If it's made from dozens of sparks though then didn't they…?"

"Kill dozens of Transformers," Silverwing finished her sentence, "yes. Needless to say, they were not operating in the law. Shockwave was one of the chief members of the Seers before the war and he's still experimenting to create augment."

Silverwing looked up and saw how disturbed Echo looked. He smiled at her reassuringly as if he hadn't meant to scare her.

"Don't worry," Silverwing promised her. "That was ten million years before the war. No doubt it's dead, killed in this war or else died on its own. I doubt a Chimera would be able to survive for very long with such an unstable spark."

Echo nodded again, waved bye, and then skated to her station to relay Silverwing's information about creating a Shardling from the piece of Blaster's spark. Silverwing was glad when she left and he rested his right arm against the console he was sitting at, lost in thought. B-00 was alive after all. That was truly remarkable for it to have survived so long. If it really was B-00 then Silverwing needed to catch it and perform some tests to gather data. He might suddenly be much closer to his goal of creating an artificial transformer.

Silverwing absentmindedly rubbed the outline of the crimson diamond tattooed onto the back of his hand as he thought. The tattoos were a symbol of his connection with his master, and they provided him with all the power he needed to win battles. Until he created the ALife his master desired, the tattoos also acted as symbolic chains that kept him bound to his master. Once the ALife was created the bond would be broken, but Silverwing would be able to keep the power the diamonds gave him.

If B-00 truly was alive then that time might be close at hand. Silverwing excitedly accessed the stolen files and brought up Soundwave's. His cassettes were attached to it, and Silverwing scrolled down the list to Frenzy, the youngest cassette. As he did so, he noticed that the cassette named "Carnage" was marked as offline. Apparently, he had had a feline altmode, and been created alongside Ravage.

Knowing that Ravage had a twin wasn't too interesting in itself since most of Soundwave's cassettes came in pairs, but he was intrigued by Carnage's death date. Carnage had died not long after Frenzy had been returned to Soundwave's side with the berserker program integrated. It appeared that Silverwing's guess about B-00 having something to do with the disappearance of Soundwave's sixth cassette was accurate.

Silverwing was going to scroll down to Frenzy's profile and transfer the information to Echo's station as he was expected to do when his tattoos started burning. He cringed and looked down to see they were glowing. Strangely though, they weren't glowing brighter. They had become darker as if they were emitting shadows. With a sigh, he leaned back in his chair and offlined his optics. His master was calling him.

Before a moment, Silverwing felt his master's impressive presence enter his mind telepathically.

 _*Master*_ the former prince addressed the presence. _*I am surprised you are contacting me. Your orders to focus on only the berserker virus may have just paid off. I believe I have a lead on B-00.*_

 _*I am glad to see you are more cooperative then Wingstar*_ Silverwing's master mused. _*For such a young transformer he is eager to antagonize things.*_

 _*Wingstar?*_ Silverwing repeated. _*Isn't he the Decepticon getting all the kills on Earth?*_

 _*Yes*_ his master assured him.

Silverwing suddenly understood the situation that was evolving on the planet much better. _*If my lead checks out then I will be moving to Earth to collect information on B-00. Why did you contact me master?*_

 _*Wingstar's disobedience could make things troublesome should he cross paths with you*_ Silverwing's master sighed. _*I am removing the Level 2 limiter in place on your abilities.*_

Silverwing's breath caught. He could use level two now?

 _*You will still need an enormous amount of energon to activate Level 2*_ His master warned him. _*I advise you siphon the energy you need rather than sacrifice it yourself.*_

 _*Yes master*_ Silverwing repeated quickly and eagerly.

His master seemed amused by his eagerness and Silverwing onlined his optics as his tattoos glowed a dark black. The outline of the diamond remained untouched, but now in the center of the diamond was a smaller filled in crimson diamond, a diamond within a diamond. Two diamonds on each hand represented he could use two levels of power.

Silverwing looked at the modified tattoos with a smile. When he completed the ALife the power would remain, which meant that even after he cut ties with his master he would still be able to use two levels of the abilities. This was perfect. All he needed to do now was deal with B-00.

His master faded from Silverwing's mind without another word as he often did, but Silverwing didn't mind. He wanted very badly to test out level two, but restrained himself. If he didn't keep the Autobot's trust then he would lose his base and steady supply of energon.

Silverwing transferred Frenzy's file to Echo and then stood. With the Autobot duties taken care of, he turned his attention to learning more about B-00's status. The best place to do that to speak to Elita-One directly, and that meant heading back to Alpha cell.

Echo straightened at her console as the information was received, and she opened the file to look through it. Not only was she a communication officer, she was a data analyst and more then capable of picking out the details needed. She heard footsteps behind her, and someone put their hand on the back of her chair a few seconds later.

"Is that the information?" The Autobot who had approached her asked.

"Yes Captain Blockade," Echo responded to the Autobot in command of Delta cell. "I'm analyzing it now. When I'm done I'll compare it to the Greenlight's files at Alpha cell."

"Excellent," Blockade nodded, glad things were running smoothly for once. "We'll give Prime all the assistance we can on this end so he can keep Earth safe."

Echo's fingers fluttered over the keyboard, and she didn't respond to Blockade's comment. She didn't have to. Blockade looked up as someone else approached and he stood straight at the sight of Silverwing.

"Silverwing," Blockade greeted, "come to help Echo with her analysis?"

Echo stopped typing momentarily and her fins lowered themselves unhappily, knowing that someone else would just get in her way.

"No Captain," Silverwing assured him. "I would like to speak to Elita in person about the berserker."

"It's just a cassette," Blockade dismissed as many other had done. "I doubt it requires much attention."

"I'm not sure we can say that if it defeated four Autobots," Silverwing reminded him.

"Hmm," Blockade hummed as he thought about it. "Fair point. Well, we don't have a mission scheduled so you can fly over and speak to them about it."

"He wouldn't have to fly over if you would let me focus on coding our messages so the Decepticons can't intercept our transmissions," Echo reminded him as her fins rose back to their normal position.

"We can speak to Earth fine," Blockade pointed out.

"Only because of Teletraan-One," Echo interrupted. "As of yet, we can't speak base to base without our location being traced."

"This is important to," Blockade promised.

Silverwing took his leave as the two of them started arguing as they always did. It was amusing to see the little minibot Echo face off against an Autobot as large as Blockade. Since he had already gotten clearance, he left after checking the skies were clear and his departure wouldn't be detected.

Flying was a relief from being cooped up inside the windowless underground base, and he relished in the feel of the wind under his wings. He thought about using level two of his abilities in the next battle, and wondered when he would get a chance to test them. That chance came far sooner than he expected, and his radar pinged three Decepticon seekers on patrol.

He thought about ghosting so their radar couldn't detect him, but decided against it and landed. Silverwing transformed as his feet touched the debris-strewn ground and looked around at the derelict buildings. As if he were exposing an Autobot rebel base, he fired twice into the air with his Autobot blaster and then waited near the entrance to a building.

As he suspected, he had trained the Seekers well and the three swept down to investigate. It wasn't Coldsnap and his wing, but another set that he didn't know. Oh well. He wasn't too picky about his targets right now.

They landed after doing a sweep with their scanners, Silverwing cloaking his presence to coax them to the ground. The three landed and transformed, rifles raised somewhat warily as they looked around.

"Is there a rebel cell nearby?" One of them asked. "Coldsnap says it's always like this before he finds a base."

"Maybe," another, the wingleader if Silverwing wasn't mistaken, admitted.

Silverwing straightened from leaning against the wall and stopped his cloaking hack. Their radar detected him almost instantly, and all three turned to face him. They hesitated when they saw the outline of a Seeker frame, but raised their rifles when Silverwing stepped out of the shadows and exposed the Autobot insignias on his wings.

"Welcome," Silverwing greeted them with his blaster in hand.

They hesitated, startled to see Silverwing. Silverwing smiled at them, and the diamond tattoos on his hands glowed. Finally, he would have a chance to use level two on his own. This would be more fun than dissecting his test subjects.

 **...**

 **Yeah, Silverwing is a Big Bad in this story. Just curious, but what do you think of Silverwing's master and Wingstar's creator? Are they the same person? Same thing? What's their agenda?  
I do love feedback from my readers, even if it's critique. That doesn't give you permission to burn me with a review, but if there's a scentence that doesn't make sense, a bad typo, or a really stupid plothole (they have found their way into my stories before regrettably), or it the update is the wrong chapter or a bunch of gibberish code, please tell me. Feedback from you makes my story better, not worse, and that makes it more enjoyable for you and let's me be a better author.**


	21. The Red Diamonds

Silverwing stood across from a wing of Decepticon seekers amid the debris-strewn streets of Iacon, the Autobot's abandoned headquarters. All three Seekers had their rifles trained on him, but Silverwing held his blaster, his weapon in place of shoulder-mounted rifles, casually. There was no one else in the area, ensuring Silverwing could test the second level of his power without an audience.

"Hello," Silverwing greeted the three. "I came to say hello to my fellow fliers and you have me at gunpoint. Is there a reason why?"

"Yeah," the leader of the wing announced, "you're a traitor. You betrayed your kin among the royal family and you betrayed Vos. Bringing you in will get us huge credit with Commander Shockwave, _Prince_ Silverwing."

"How do you intend to defeat me?" Silverwing asked curiously. "There are only three of you."

"Only…?" The wingleader repeated with a dull look. "We're the salutatorian graduates of the Academy, just behind Coldsnap and his wing. There's no way one seeker can best the three of us."

Silverwing sighed. "I am not a Seeker as Seeker is a Decepticon term applied to their fliers. I am an Air Warrior. That is the correct Vosian term."

"You're no Vosian!" One of his opponent wing shouted hotly. "You're a traitor!"

Silverwing shook his helm in exasperation at their misguided ideas, and the wingleader took half-a-step towards him. "Drop your weapon and surrender."

Without any hesitation, Silverwing let the blaster fall to the ground. The outline of a red diamond tattooed on his left hand glowed. The surrender of the weapon clearly surprised his opponents, and the wingleader warily took another half step towards him. That obnoxious blaster only ever got in his way.

Remembering his master's advice to siphon off the energy he needed for level two, Silverwing allowed the wingleader to approach. There was some degree of confusion in their features because he had surrendered so quickly, but their wingleader must have soothed them through their bond. They were still a little wary, but trusted their wingleader enough.

Their trust was to be their final mistake. Silverwing's diamond took action, and their wingleader gasped. He stopped moving, and from the startled appearance of their wingleader they had felt the attack. The wingleader fell to his knees and then fell forward.

"H-hey!" One of his wingmates called out. "Are you alright?"

Their rifles were instantly back on Silverwing, but Silverwing shook his head.

"Of course he's not alright," he chided them. "Most Transformers aren't once their spark is removed. See?"

Silverwing held out his right hand, and the other two froze. Shock and terror painted their features. Resting in Silverwing's upturned palm was a blue spark that pulsed. A few drops of energon coated his palm and dripped to the ground.

"Relax," Silverwing told them with a smile. "I'm no Sparkeater of legends although I see why they consider these such a delicacy. This little sphere is the source of our life, our person, _and_ it is the purest source of energon on Cybertron. It's small, easy to transport and store, and _very_ abundant."

Wisps of light began to flutter around Silverwing's hand as he started to absorb the spark directly into his systems. He could use _its_ energy to activate Level 2 without using up _his_ energy. One spark should be enough to allow him to use it for a while.

He heard the crack of a plasma shot, and suddenly the orb exploded into a multitude of sparkling glass-like shards. Silverwing had to drop the spark and jump back to avoid the shockwave as the energy contained within went everywhere, and the other two seekers did the same. He tssked as he lost the power source to use Level 2, but didn't let it bother him much. There were two more sparks for him to utilize.

Silverwing looked at the Seeker that had fired his rifle and destroyed the spark, and could see it was still trembling. The Seeker fired again, and Silverwing raised his left arm. Both of his opponents gave a start when the plasma shot hit the diamond tattoo on his hand and shattered into a somewhat pretty shower of violet-silver sparkles. Their stupor made Silverwing smile, and he had to be amused that they believed such a weak attack would get past the diamonds. Did they really take his master's power so lightly? Then again, they didn't know he had a master or who he was.

Silverwing sighed and shook his head at their baffled looks. "You Decepticons really are dense, aren't you?"

The red tattoo on his left hand glowed, and the outline of the diamond that marked level one pulsed. Then it rose off the back of his hand and solidified into a red diamond-shaped crystal shard. A thread of eerie black energy connected one of the jewel's tips to the top of his hand. As if it were a snake, the crystal hovered with its free tip bobbing between the two remaining seekers as if deciding which to strike.

"What type of crazy attack is that?" One of the wing demanded.

"It's a gift from my master, as I said," Silverwing repeated. "Normally he helps guide it in battle, but he's not present, so I'll control it on my own."

"Master," one of the seekers whispered.

"Care to see what my shard does?" Silverwing asked curiously.

"What is that thing?" The same seeker muttered again, cautious.

"Who cares?" The second snapped and fired his rifle at Silverwing yet again.

The shard swayed in front of him and the plasma bolt hit it. Once again, the bolt shattered harmlessly without leaving the slightest damage to the shard. Silverwing sighed as the shard swam through the air to hover above his hand again, bouncing up and down in place ever so slightly as if a ghost were holding it.

"You don't learn, do you?" Silverwing shook his helm and looked dangerously at the Seeker who had shot.

The seeker hesitated and Silverwing smiled. There was a flash as his shard moved and darted away from him. They heard a hiss like sound and then suddenly the Seeker who had shot gave a yell and stumbled sideways. His companion turned in terror, fearing he would be dead like their wingleader. He wasn't dead, but his wingmate still stared.

The thread that connected the shard to Silverwing had wrapped itself around the Seeker's right wing and arm dozens of times, pinning his arm to the surface of his wing. It glowed a soft black color, but the shard that bobbed in front of the Seeker's nose was bright.

"This is level one," Silverwing announced to the two that remained.

The seeker tried to move, but his arm was pinned in place and he couldn't transform. His wingmate hesitated and looked at the attack, but he didn't have the slightest idea how to untangle his companion. How had Silverwing managed to strike so fast? He hadn't even seen the attack until his wingmate was already caught. Silverwing chuckled.

The shard, the free Seeker thought. He must be channeling energy through the thread to the shard and pooling it in the shard, some sort of telepathic attack like Soundwave. There should be a minimum of energy in the thread itself though as most of it would be inside the shard, and that meant the thread should be vulnerable. If he broke it, Silverwing wouldn't be able to control his shard anymore.

With that thought in mind, he drew an energon dagger from subspace and leapt at the thread connecting his trapped wingmate to Silverwing, bringing it down in a two-handed strike. Silverwing was mildly surprised to see a Transformer using a melee weapon and mildly amused when he brought the blade down to try and server the thread. The instant the blade came down on the thread a bolt of energy slammed into the seeker. Its sheer power felt like an oily viper wrapping around his spark, and he screamed as the force behind the attack threw him backwards. His pinned wingmate looked on in stunned silence as his friend crashed to the ground hard, dagger sliding away from him.

"The shard isn't the only thing receiving energy," Silverwing scolded and lowered his helm in disappointment. "Do you believe I'm stupid enough _not_ to make sure the thread is safe?"

The seeker who had been repulsed cringed, and very slowly forced himself to sit up. When he put pressure on his hands to try to stand, he hissed and took the pressure off them. Slowly he looked down at his hands and sat up with his optics brightening in shock. The metal on his hands was half-melted, exposing he circuitry within, and he could no longer use his fingers. Even though the traitor was channeling the energy to the shard, there was still this much left for the thread to zap him this badly? How could someone have that much energon?

"It is an unorthodox attack, isn't it?" Silverwing asked the two of them without raising his helm. "My little shard isn't a blaster or a sword, and it looks so weak and useless. After all, it's just a little piece of crystal."

Silverwing gave a short bark-like laugh at their incompetence. "Needless to say, I can make the thread as long as I want since it's pure energy instead of material. The thread can change in other ways to. If I want, I can keep blunt it like this, but I can also make it sharper."

His royal silver optics were bright with mirth. The thread wrapped around his captured seeker's wing and arm sharpened, sharp enough to cut through metal. Then Silverwing pulled back on the thread. It tore through the seeker, and finely sliced pieces of his wing and arm fell to the ground as the seeker howled. Energon flew through the air and splattered against the ground and surroundings.

His wingmate gave a shriek and stared with optics almost white from shock as the energon splattered across his face in a line of dots. The shard swayed and hovered in midair with drops of energon dripping from the thread as the injured seeker howled and rolled on the ground, and then it flew back to Silverwing. It loosely wrapped around his left arm with the shard pointing towards the fallen seeker and bobbing like before as if nothing had happened.

"This is just level one," Silverwing added for his enemies' benefit. "It's pretty basic stuff really. Thanks to my master's good graces I can now access level two power, although I'll listen to his advice and not activate it with my own energy. The drain will be too exhausting. Instead, I think I'll use the purest source of energy on Cybertron. Remember what it is?"

"A spark," the uninjured seeker whispered, and trembled when Silverwing nodded.

"A spark," Silverwing repeated, "like this."

His shard bobbed once and then shot straight at the seeker whose arm and wing had been cut into neat slices by the thread. It went through the Seeker's chest and sparkchamber as if it were made of cloud instead of some of Cybertron's finest metal. The one remaining Seeker stared slack-jawed as the shard returned to Silverwing. It was speared through the Seeker's spark and the crystal lowered the spark to Silverwing's hand. Silverwing took it calmly.

"Monster," Silverwing's one remaining opponent whispered.

Silverwing looked up from the enchanting light of the spark to the seeker curiously, not quite having heard what he had said.

"Monster!" The seeker shouted and raised both of his rifles to Silverwing.

He fired both of them at Silverwing, launching as many shots as possible. There was no way his little crystal could block this many shots. Now he had him!

Silverwing sighed softly as if disappointed, and the shots slammed into the ground, raising a cloud of dust and smoke that blocked his view. The seeker didn't stop until his rifles clicked softly and stopped shooting, warning him that he was out of energy. Forgetting about his radar, the seeker stared at the cloud with optics almost white from panic. Had he gotten him? Surely, he'd managed to hit him. The dust sank back to the ground, slowly revealed the outcome of him emptying his rifles.

"N-no, no way," the lone Seeker whispered. "That's not possible!"

"What's not possible?" Silverwing asked innocently as he stood calmly in place, still online.

Hovering in front of his frame was a shield of red transparent energy. Silverwing's shard was hovering in the middle of the outline, and at a thought, the energy used to create the shield retracted back into the shard.

"Ow, ow," Silverwing hissed and looked at his right wing.

The tip of it had been singed by the plasma bolts, and Silverwing glared at the burns in annoyance. He hadn't deployed the shield very well.

"It seems I still need to work on the defensive capabilities of my diamonds," Silverwing sighed. "To be honest though, my targets usually don't usually have a chance to shoot back."

Silverwing raised his right hand that still held the spark, and his opponent stared as the spark sank into Silverwing's frame. The boost of energy made the diamond tattoos on both his hands glow, and the new power was channeled to the smaller diamond at the center that marked level two. Just as his master had told him, the influx of energy from a spark was able to activate level two.

"I love sparks," Silverwing purred. "Now I can go one step higher –level two."

"L-level two?" The seeker whispered and stood, stepping back fearfully. "There's more."

"Far more," Silverwing assured him. "Watch the crystal."

The red crystal glowed white and the kite shape changed into a three-point leaf reminiscent of poison ivy with the thread as the leaf's steam. When the glow faded and the crystals returned to their rightful color, the seeker saw in horror that the shard had fractured into three pieces. Silverwing now had three individual crystals he could control instead of just one.

"This," Silverwing announced as the three shards of the crystal bobbed at their own independent rates.

The Seeker had enough, and before Silverwing could finish his sentence took flight to try to bolt. He wasn't able to transform and get out of range before the shards struck. They wrapped themselves around his form, from his feet to his wings and helm. The Seeker suddenly realized he couldn't move.

It had wrapped itself so perfectly around every part of his body that the Seeker could barely even wiggle his fingers. He tried to fire his rifles, but they only clicked, a reminder that he had used up all his energy. The threads were strong enough to keep him in midair despite his weight, and neither they nor Silverwing looked bothered by the strain of his weight. Silverwing had him hopelessly caught, and the seeker was now at Silverwing's mercy.

"If you will let me finish my sentence," Silverwing said as if he were scolding the Seeker. "This upgrade to my shards is level two. Now, you didn't really think I would let you live after seeing that my diamonds are more than just paint, did you? I cannot afford to let Cybertron know about my master or the power he has given me, not yet anyway. Thank you for letting me test level two."

The Seeker tried desperately to thrash and free himself, but the thread binding him in place was too strong.

"Goodbye," Silverwing told him in amusement and tightened the threads, flicking his hand backwards and pulling on the threads as they sharpened.

They cut through the Seeker, dicing him into small hand size pieces. Energon and his shrapnel fell like rain, and the threads went limp without anything to hold onto. Silverwing watched the parts impassively, and then recalled the shard. It returned at his call and the three pieces returned to a single shard. The shard retracted back to him and settled onto the back of his hand. Then it faded back into its tattoo form so it looked like nothing but paint, leaving only the bodies as testament that it had been used.

"Ah," Silverwing looked from the tattoo on his left hand as its glow faded to the identical one on his right. "I didn't even have to use my second shard. Well, I suppose that went how I expected."

Silverwing did a quick auto-check to make sure the damage to his wing wasn't severe, and then took off. He left the bodies behind and made for Elita-One and Alpha base, mind already thinking about the possibilities of B-00's survival.

He did hope, as he flew, that Wingstar would keep this rebellious streak up. It was only because of the youngling's insolence that his master had released the level-two limiter so Silverwing could defend himself against the unruly youngling. Perhaps if Silverwing was lucky, his master would remove the limiter on level three.

Whether or not he went to Earth depended on the information Elita could give him about B-00's recent actions in battle. When he thought it over, he realized he'd make up an excuse to go to Earth no matter what. He was looking forward to meeting Wingstar, whom he'd heard so much about from his master, and he figured it would be nice to say hello Starscream. It was a meeting to look forward to.

* * *

 **Still remember the story about Silverwing told Thundercracker in chapter 12? Yeah... keep it in mind. Starscream isn't going to greet Silverwing with open arms. Got any guesses concerning Silverwing's master or Wingstar's creator? Leave a guess with a review, and please tell me what you like/hate/don't understand about the story. I do try to respond to every review (although it's a little difficult when you're a guest).**

 **Making an account is free, you don't have to give any credit card information, and takes about half a minute. You can use any gmail you want and the entire thing is** **anonymous. Once a member you can disable notifications if you want, and follow/favorite your favorite stories and authors so you don't miss updates. You can also message authors, and I can message you back if you have a question.**


	22. The End of a Fine Ruse

Starscream looked over the latest report from Cybertron, something his high rank gave him access to. Normally he wouldn't concern himself with such things, but word had reached Earth that some very strange things were happening on Cybertron in their absence. The report Starscream looked over confirmed many of the rumors.

Autobot cells exposed by the shot of an Autobot blaster, all the rebels found dead inside as if they had been fighting someone despite there not being any sign of an intruder, and something even stranger that had happened yesterday. This said that the salutatorian wing from the Decepticon Air Academy had been found dead. Two of them had had their sparks removed before their death and two of them had suffered very strange injuries. It was almost as if they'd been tangled in a bundle of wire sharp enough to slice them to pieces while they were still alive.

The most recent valedictorian graduates, Coldsnap and his wing, finding all those Autobot bases only added to the mystery. It was clear the three had been led to the bases by the firing of Autobot blaster twice into the sky, but by who? His first guess was that it was a very skilled Decepticon thrashing the Autobots, but when you added the casualties of the salutatorian wing it was no longer possible that it was a Decepticon hunting. Were the two events connected? What was going on there?

"Wait a minute," Starscream muttered and scrolled back up. "Coldsnap is the valedictorian wing? I thought Wingstar's wing were the valedictorians."

He opened the files on Wingstar's wing and compared them to what the report said. This said both Coldsnap's and Wingstar's wing had graduated top of the class.

"That's impossible," Starscream rested his chin in his hand and stared at the conflicting information. "There can only be one valedictorian wing."

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. It appeared it was just as he had accused the younglings of when they had been transferred here: they had faked their transfer orders and files. The Decepticon mainframe on Earth and the one on Cybertron were not linked to each other, and since there was no way to double-check the information with Cybertron Starscream had been forced to believe the files. Evidently, that had been a mistake.

The younglings had fooled him. Starscream was almost embarrassed by how perfectly they had tricked him. If they had graduated then they likely would have told the truth about their rank instead of making up something like saying they were the valedictorians. It seemed likely Wingstar, Darksky, and Amethyst had never even attended the academy.

His theory explained a lot, but it raised one question about them that Starscream didn't have the answer to. If they hadn't attended the academy, where had they learned to fight so well? Who had trained Wingstar and his wing so masterfully?

Starscream turned off the PADD with the report and looked up at the ceiling. There were so many strange happenings on Cybertron, and now there were three _younglings_ , ghosts essentially, with _no_ record that somehow had the training of senior warriors. Actually, the odd situation with the Autobot rebel cells self-destructing, if that's what was going on, had started at the same time Wingstar and his wing had lied to get transferred here. Was there a connection between them and the situation on Cybertron?

He wanted to ask Wingstar directly about their false transcripts and their level of training now that he knew about it, but Soundwave had the whole ship rigged with listening devices. The last thing Starscream wanted was for Soundwave to find out about this because the first thing he would do was tell Megatron. Something about this situation didn't sit right with Starscream, and he didn't want Megatron to know about it.

Starscream was so deep in thought, puzzling over the angles and possibilities of the situation, that he almost jumped out of his chair when his communicator chimed that he had a message. He managed to save himself from toppling his chair over backwards by grabbing the edge of his desk, and he took a breath before turning on the communicator.

"What is it?" Starscream asked a little crossly.

There was no response on the other end, and Starscream gave the communicator an odd look. Was it malfunctioning?

"Is this thing working?" Someone asked a second after he had spoken.

"How should I know?" A second voice said.

"You're the one who rigged it to transmit all the way to Earth!" The first voice shouted.

"Starscream, can you hear me?" A third voice asked calmly over the first two.

Starscream recognized the third voice. "Coldsnap? Is that you?"

"So you can hear me," Coldsnap sighed in relief. "I can't believe Crosscutter's cross wiring worked. Hey you two, be quiet!"

The other two, likely Crosscutter and Airwave, shushed at their wingleader's order.

"No way," a voice that Starscream recognized as Crosscutter said. "It worked?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Airwave demanded in a voice akin to a shout.

"What are you three doing?" Starscream asked in an unamused voice. "What did you mean by crosswiring?"

"Cross bypassed Shockwave's security system," Coldsnap explained. "He doesn't know we're contacting you right now."

Starscream exhaled in a deep sigh and asked tiredly. "You three do realize that Soundwave has this every part of this ship bugged right? He'll be able to hear you."

"Say what!" Airwave demanded, shouting as he always did. "What are you talking about? Why did we go through all the trouble of hijacking control of Shockwave's communication relay?"

"You do realize that can be called sabotage," Starscream muttered.

Sheesh, these three hadn't changed at all.

"It's important," Coldsnap promised over the argument raging between his wingmates, "and I'll tell you if my wingmates will _shut up_!"

It went quiet and Coldsnap sighed in relief, "finally. Starscream, do you know what's going on here on Cybertron?"

"With the rebel cells and the salutatorian wing," Starscream agreed. "What about it?"

"So you do know," Coldsnap said satisfactorily. "Good, that makes this easier. Shockwave left the information out of the report so you wouldn't find out about it, but I thought you should know."

Starscream didn't like the tone he was using and so asked in a low voice. "I should know what?"

"The salutatorian wing aren't the first Decepticons to be attacked, and the only reason this incident has been publicized is because of the wings' rank." Coldsnap admitted. "We don't know who is behind it, but the casualties always have the same injuries, the same ones that have shown up on the salutatorian's bodies. Some think that a Sparkeater from legend has appeared because there are sparks missing, but after looking at the pattern of the reports I think it has something to do with the Air Warrior among the Autobot rebels."

Starscream's optics darkened when Coldsnap said an Autobot Vosian. Since the Autobots had been the ones who had slaughtered the royal family, very few Vosians would wear their red crest. Whom was Coldsnap talking about?

Coldsnap hesitated, and then sighed. "Considering your history, I thought you should know about this Air Commander. The seeker with the Autobot rebels… it's Silverwing."

Starscream stood sharply, knocking his chair over without even noticing as he stared at his communicator. "What did you just say?"

"Silverwing's alive," Coldsnap repeated carefully, "and he's here on Cybertron. The salutatorian wing reported seeing him just before we lost contact with _them_. Then they show up dead. I believe there were similar occurrences with the others killed by the " _Rogue Sparkeater_ " roaming Cybertron."

Starscream's arm trembled as images of Cybren and Brightlight's body flashed before his eyes, and then he set himself. "The bodies of the Autobot rebels that were killed, were their systems wiped?"

Coldsnap stuttered, surprised by his rapid question. "Y-yes. Their mainframe's had been deleted before we were led there although the computers of the base were intact. I don't understand why the Autobots files were intact."

"Led there," Starscream repeated and then swore softly. "Son of a, Coldsnap, you were led there?"

"Yeah," Coldsnap agreed cautiously, startled at how serious Starscream's voice suddenly became. "It happened all four times."

"They did kill each other," Starscream looked away from his communicator. "The Autobot rebels did kill each other."

"Why would _Autobots_ do that?" Airwave spoke up at last.

"They didn't," Starscream dug his fingernails into his palm. "Silverwing's berserker virus did. He's infecting them, wiping their mainframes, and then luring the Decepticons there to hide his tracks and make it seem like they were killed by Decepticons. He's found a way to continue his experiments without arousing the Autobots suspicion, even though it's the Autobots he's experimenting on."

"I thought that psychotic berserker virus of his made a Transformer fight until their spark shattered from exhaustion," Crosscutter put in.

Frenzy was not the only Decepticon prisoner Silverwing had turned his Berserker virus on.

"It depends on the strain of virus," Starscream explained patiently. "That's one of them, but he has another. Instead of instantly turning one Transformer into a Berserker he infects a large group of Transformers at once with a slow-acting strain. He used it once before the war on a group of the Seers, and I'm sure he's used it since."

"He's playing us then," Coldsnap said softly, "and he's playing the Autobots. What about the salutatorian wing? Do you think he's the Rogue Sparkeater targeting Decepticon Seekers as well as the rebels?"

"I don't know," Starscream admitted, "but I'm sure he has something to do with the rebel deaths. Knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised if he was playing the role of Sparkeater. Sparks are one of the most refined and pure forms of energy in the verse despite being small and easily transportable. He knows that, and he's used it before. The missing sparks tie to him."

"That's right," Coldsnap realized, "you grew up with Sunstrike and Silverwing."

Starscream didn't answer, thinking about what had happened with Silverwing. Even after the death of Vos's royal family, something he likely had a part in since the Autobots killed Sunstrike shortly after Silverwing had defected, he was still alive. The missing sparks proved Silverwing was behind the deaths more than the dead Autobot cells did. Using sparks as a power source was something Silverwing had experimented with before the war had ever begun, something Starscream had caught him doing. That incident was the reason behind Silverwing losing his rank of prince, and that had led to him joining the Autobots.

Silverwing had never forgiven Starscream for exposing his work, and he claimed that it was just an innocent experiment. He had thought that since Starscream was a scientist as well he would understand his curiosity, but Starscream couldn't believe how the shelves lined with dozens of sparks from all Transformers he had murdered. Since Sparkeaters _were_ a myth, Silverwing was the answer to the question of the missing sparks.

"Where is Shockwave now?" Starscream asked Coldsnap seriously as he started walking to the door of his quarters.

"He's not at the tower right now," Crosscutter inputted. "I think he's in a lab."

"Does one of you know how to operate the space bridge yourself?" Starscream asked them quickly.

"Yeah," Airwave spoke up, surprising Starscream that the loudmouth punk of the group was the one who could work it.

"Set the coordinates for Earth," Starscream told them sharply and recovered. "I'm coming to Cybertron."

"Now?" All three of them asked at the same time.

"Now," Starscream repeated. "That's an order."

They hesitated.

"I'll take responsibility for it," Starscream ordered. "I'm coming to Cybertron, at least to confirm if Silverwing is present. Megatron will have to deal without me for a bit."

"An order," Coldsnap said hesitantly.

" _I told you_ warning Starscream about Silverwing was a bad idea!" Airwave shouted over the communicator. "There's a reason why Shockwave left it out of the report!"

"Starscream has a right to know," Coldsnap argued back. "He grew up with Sunstrike and Silverwing, and Sunstrike trusted him enough to make him his regent. I trust him to!"

"You're an idiot!" Airwave shouted again.

There was a crash on the Cybertron side of the communicator, and Crosscutter spoke up calmly with thinly veiled irritation. "If that is a direct order Air Commander then we are bound to obey it. Coldsnap and Airwave will set up the space bridge in a moment after they recover."

Recover? Starscream shook his helm, surprised that they were obeying him so easily, and startled by Coldsnap's declaration to Airwave.

"Besides," Crosscutter repeated coolly. "I recorded you saying you'd take responsibility for it."

No, those three hadn't changed at all.

"Just be ready," Starscream snapped. "Send me the coordinates once the bridge is set, and hurry."

"Yes Air Commander," Crosscutter promised.

Starscream turned off the communicator on his end, and stalked down the hallway to the entry bay. It was likely that Soundwave had heard most or all of the conversation, but it hardly mattered. He was going straight to Cybertron. Silverwing was more important.

"Silverwing," Starscream snarled under his breath.

He entered the bay, and was not surprised to see Amethyst on monitor duty. Usually it was him or Skywarp on monitors of late. Ever since Wingstar had swiped the lenses the Constructicons needed to finish upgrading Megatron's fusion cannon with the black diamond things had been quiet, and Amethyst looked half-asleep.

Amethyst sat up semi-straight when Starscream stalked in, and hesitated at how furious he looked. He had never seen Starscream looking so stormy. Something about him made Amethyst cringe.

"I'm going out for a flight," Starscream snapped at Amethyst. "Lift the docking bridge."

"I-I can't," Amethyst said helplessly. "Megatron's orders are to keep the base on lockdown until his new fusion cannon is operational. He doesn't want to risk the Autobots getting in here and destroying it before it's done."

Starscream knew that he didn't outrank Megatron in this regard, and he stalked over to Amethyst. Amethyst leaned back against his station, looking distinctly terrified. Likely, he was calling Darksky and Wingstar for help over the wingbond, but Starscream barely noticed.

"Open the docking bay," Starscream repeated his order, "now youngling."

Amethyst, spooked, raised his rifle to point at Starscream. He was surprised when Starscream didn't even seem to notice it.

"You three falsified your orders," Starscream snarled darkly. "Coldsnap is the leader of the valedictorian wing, not Wingstar. You three aren't even registered in the Decepticon mainframe, are you?"

The alarm that flew across Wingstar's features confirmed Starscream's wild guess. They weren't actually Decepticons, just pretending to be wearing the 'Con crest. If they weren't Decepticons then who were they taking orders from? Was it the same person who had trained them?

"Open the docking bay," Starscream repeated. "I have business on Cybertron."

Amethyst lowered his helm and looked away. Then with a tssk, he lowered his rifle and raised the gate. Starscream straightened and stalked into it. Once the bridge was above the water level he walked out and took off, making straight for the coordinates Coldsnap's wing relayed him.

Amethyst hung his head and didn't raise it as Darksky and Wingstar came running into the bay.

 _*We're caught*_ Amethyst told his wingmates over the wingbond without looking at them.

Darksky and Wingstar looked at him, and then at each other. Falsifying orders and pretending to be Decepticons were actions of treason – actions that would warrant execution if word got out. Wingstar thought back to his creator and then brushed the thought aside. He _would not_ go running to _him_ for help. Energy hummed around Wingstar's fingers in a manner not befitting a normal transformer. This was their problem, and they would deal with it.

* * *

 **Yeah, like you would have realized by now, there are two uber-powerful Seekers in this story - Wingstar and Silverwing - and they're on opposite sides of the war. Silverwing, who would make a better Decepticon, is with the Autobots, and Wingstar, who is not enough of a bad guy (usually) to be a Decepticon is with them.**

 **And Amethyst is on monitor duty because that's a punishment for causing trouble. It's boring and dull and a great punishment for troublemakers. They use the extra time on their hands though to plan out what they're going to do once they're relieved of shift. So the punishment usually doesn't work.**


	23. A New Plan

"This is a bad idea," Airwave muttered under his breath as he stared at the spacebridge controls and waited for Starscream's signal to beam him up to Cybertron.

"It's also a direct order," Coldsnap reminded him.

"You know what," Airwave snapped and turned towards Coldsnap. "This is your fault."

"My fault?" Coldsnap repeated dubiously.

"Yeah," Airwave stood, "your fault. You were the one who just _had_ to tell Starscream Silverwing was here. If you listened to Shockwave and kept quiet then we wouldn't have broken rules crosswiring the system so we could contact Starscream behind Shockwave's back, and we wouldn't be breaking even more rules by sneaking him onto Cybertron!"

Airwave was shouting by the end of his rant, and Coldsnap responded in the same tone.

"What do you expect me to do?" Coldsnap demanded, "Not tell him? Lord Starscream is our Air Commander and he's also the ruler of Vos and us Vosians! Remember, Sunstrike made Starscream his Regent. We have a duty to him not just as our superior military officer, but as our leader!"

"Megatron is our leader!" Airwave shouted back again, "not Starscream! Primus! You are the biggest fool in the Decepticon army for trusting Starscream! He's a treacherous snake who doesn't deserve your loyalty. The sooner you realize that the better it will be for all three of us."

Crosscutter shook his helm, but didn't say anything. If needs be he could always slam their helms together again as he had done earlier.

"He dealt with the Seers and saved the princes when he was a seeklet, protected Prince Warsong, exposed Silverwing's treachery not long after, and kept Vos from falling into ruins after the Autobot's killed the royals." Coldsnap warned.

"Yeah," Airwave admitted, "I'll admit that before the war he was a good guy, but that was before the war. He's changed a lot in these past ten million years, and he's not worth your trust anymore. We're going to get in a lot of trouble for nothing."

"I recorded Starscream saying he'd take responsibility for any trouble," Crosscutter reminded them. "We can blackmail him easy."

Neither seemed to have heard him, and Crosscutter sighed at their stubbornness as they continued their argument.

"How would _you_ know how much he's _changed_?" Coldsnap demanded.

"I asked his wingmate," Airwave hissed. "Thundercracker? He grew up with Starscream."

"Yeah," Coldsnap admitted and then bounced right back, "Starscream's _second_ wing. When Vos was forced into the war and we joined Megatron his first wing were his friends. They got killed by the Autobots. Thundercracker is one of his second wing. Because of the wingbond, most Seekers go insane after losing both their wingmates. You know the saying, _if two of a wing die then the third is as good as dead_."

"Starscream is no exception to that," Airwave laughed. "No exception at all."

"Take that back!" Coldsnap ordered Airwave.

"No!" Airwave shouted back. "He's not some hero from a story, hasn't been for a long time. We met him once a few months ago. Shockwave dragged him here right after he found out about the female Autobots, and Starscream caught Elita-One to lure Prime out, remember? Thanks to the stupidity of Starscream and Shockwave, Prime got away."

"Stop," Crosscutter interrupted. "Starscream's taking reasonability for the broken rules, but I don't think he'll help you if you two start fighting and wreck the base."

They simmered dangerously, and Crosscutter raised his rifles, pointing one at each of them to accent his point. Before Crosscutter had to fire, Airwave's communicator chimed. Starscream was ready for transport.

"Transport him," Coldsnap ordered.

Airwave didn't budge.

" _Now_ ," Coldsnap repeated, also raising a rifle to point at Airwave, ignoring the one Crosscutter had on him.

Airwave tssked and slammed his hand on the control of his console, activing the bridge.

"There," he demanded as Crosscutter lowered his rifles and the spacebridge opened, "happy now?"

The hiss of the doors to the command center answered for Airwave, and a voice called out darkly, "no. Happy is not the best way to put it."

All three of them froze and very slowly turned towards the doors. They recognized the voice.

"C-c-commander Shockwave," Airwave stuttered at the visitor. "You're back from the lab early."

"I would have been alerted the instant you opened the space bridge without authorization anyway," Shockwave warned them and raised the blaster built into his arm. "Now who exactly are you bringing here without approval?"

The doors to the spacebridge opened at that instant, and Shockwave pointed his built-in blaster at Starscream as the Air Commander calmly walked out. Starscream gave a start when he saw that, and Shockwave sighed. He looked back at Coldsnap and his wing with his one optic.

"I told you not to tell him," Shockwave reminded the three. "He would act emotionally as it seems he has."

"I'm here to deal with Silverwing, Senator Shockwave." Starscream used Shockwave's title from before the war purposely to annoy him. "In this regard, I outrank you."

Being reminded that he was once the Senator of Tarn did irk Shockwave, but he did not lower his laser hand. The three Seekers looked at Shockwave when he didn't lower his weapon and then at Starscream when he raised one of his rifles in response. Was there going to be a firefight anyway?

"Do you think your little toy blaster will stand up to my cluster bomb?" Starscream challenged Shockwave darkly.

"Cluster bomb?" Coldsnap asked.

He took a step away from Starscream and Shockwave, his wingmates following his lead. They had heard how Starscream had used one of his infamous cluster bombs against an Autobot recently, and how a single shot had literally blown the Autobot into shrapnel. Those things weren't on the same level as Megatron's fusion cannon, but they were still devastating. One shot could make short work of the building.

"You don't use those lightly," Shockwave warned.

"No," Starscream agreed, "but I'm on Cybertron now. I don't have the equipment to make them on Earth, but I can make more here. You still haven't found my lab, have you?"

Shockwave hadn't managed to find Starscream's hidden lab where he made his cluster bombs and had developed his nullray technology. That irked as much as his old rank of senator.

"You three," Starscream snapped.

Coldsnap and his wingmates hiding behind his wings jumped.

"You're coming with me," Starscream ordered them. "I need a full report of what is going on if I want to figure out what Silverwing is up to."

"We are not done here," Shockwave promised and focused the aim of his laser at Starscream's chest.

"Take it up with Megatron," Starscream snipped. "I have business with my foster brother. Come on you three."

Starscream lowered his rifle without using his cluster bombs and stalked by Shockwave fearlessly. Coldsnap and his wing hovered well out of the way, still quite terrified.

"Now!" Starscream ordered.

"Yes sir," Coldsnap jumped and said.

Cautiously, his wing skirted around Shockwave and caught up to Starscream. Shockwave lowered his blaster as the four of them left. Normally Starscream was easy to control: impatient, selfish, and transparent – no threat at all. When Starscream got serious though, he got serious. It was irrational.

"Damn Seer," Starscream snarled under his breath.

"Seer?" Crosscutter replied softly, looking for information to exploit.

"Wait a minute," Coldsnap hesitated, "you mean the rumors are true? Shockwave is one of those insane Seers?"

"He used his rank as Senator before the war to make life easy for the Seers," Starscream grumbled. "It worked fine until they built a base in Vos. They made a successful Chimera out of Vosian sparks, but it escaped with many of their successful experiments."

"So they really did create a Chimera," Crosscutter mused.

"They came looking for it in Vos three centuries after it escaped and crossed paths with the princes and I." Starscream assured them. "SUNSTORM!"

The other Seekers jumped when Starscream shouted that, and a neon yellow Seeker jumped and threw his arms into the air at his voice. He had been holding a stack of PADDs in his arms and they all went flying in the air.

Sunstorm looked over his shoulder at the very short-tempered Air Commander. "Starscream?"

The PADDs fell back from gravity and landed on Sunstorm's helm and wings.

"Ow, ow, ow," Sunstorm whined and waved his hands above his head as the PADDs landed on him as if swatting a swarm of gnats.

Starscream sighed, "Sunstorm."

"Oi!" Sunstorm shouted once the PADDs landed on the ground. "What was that for? I didn't do anything!"

Coldsnap and the others took a step back as Starscream stalked closer to Sunstorm. Being anywhere near Sunstorm was a bad idea as that could lead to armor melting and circuits shorting from the radiation that lit his body. He could survive it only because his armor was spliced with Electrum, but he had only partial control of his abilities. Six million years ago, he had lost control. Yet Starscream approached him fearlessly today. Maybe Airwave calling him insane wasn't too far off the mark.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Sunstorm demanded. "Playing Megatron's messenger boy?"

"Megatron doesn't know I'm here," Starscream said darkly. "I came because the strange occurrences on Cybertron are happening because of Silverwing."

Silverwing's name made Sunstorm freeze and look away. "Not him again."

"Yes him again," Starscream promised. "You're going to help me find him."

"Huh?" Sunstorm gave him a blank look, Electrum gold optics bright. "I'm gonna what? No way. The last time I tangled with him he gave me one of those crazy viruses of his, and I went psyco."

"You're not anyway?" Starscream asked tartly.

"I'm gonna melt your circuits for that one," Sunstorm warned him and gold lighting crackled erratically around one of his hands as he focused his radiation.

Starscream grabbed one of Sunstorm's wings without warning and started walking, dragging the most dangerous Seeker on Cybertron behind him.

"Come on," Starscream repeated. "I can make that an order, Sunstorm. Where's the data analyst for the base whose been assembling the reports?"

Coldsnap knelt down and quickly picked up the PADDs Sunstorm had dropped. "You mean Solarflare. That's where you were heading, right Sunstorm?"

"Yes," Sunstorm promised as he started walking. "I'm gonna melt your arm Screamer."

Starscream didn't let go and stop dragging him, ignorant of the threat he posed. Sunstorm tssked and grabbed the wrist of the hand Starscream was dragging him with. There was a slight hissing sound as the radiation from Sunstorm melted Starscream's wrist. He stopped before it fried his circuits, and it was clear from the look Starscream gave him that Sunstorm had his attention.

"Calm down," Sunstorm ordered him. "You're a pretty good commander when you put your mind to it, but you need to focus. When Silverwing's virus made me lose control of my abilities, you handled the situation without killing me. If you're not too busy trying to steal control of leadership without planning then you stand a chance at doing something useful, so calm down and think instead of blindly running around the base brother."

Then Sunstorm released Starscream's wrist. The metal where Sunstorm had touched him was soft to the touch and a few drops had melted off his wrist and fallen to the floor, exposing the circuitry beneath. Starscream's hard and dangerous look didn't vanish, but it was obvious that he was deeply frustrated.

"Brother?" Crosscutter tilted his helm.

"Clone," Starscream corrected. "He's a clone of me Shockwave made to be a super soldier, one of his pet projects like when he tried to create Shardlings. Sunstorm was the only clone that survived."

"You called Silverwing your foster brother to," Crosscutter remembered, filing the information away in case there was a latter use for it.

"I suppose Silverwing and Sunstrike were brothers to me, unlike this one," Starscream hissed and glared at Sunstorm after a cross look at his damaged wrist.

Sunstorm didn't take offense to it. If Starscream really thought so little of him then he would have killed him six million years ago when he had lost control of his abilities as were his orders.

Starscream looked away, but did indeed take a breath to calm himself. "Where is Nightwing? He's in charge of the Seekers here."

"Not anymore," Coldsnap admitted with the PADDs in his arms, giving the mute Airwave a cross look for not doing anything. "He was killed by a strike from the Autobot rebels two weeks ago. Silverwing was among the Autobot strike force, which is why we know he's still alive. There isn't a new Air General yet, and the Seekers have been placed under the jurisdiction of Barrage, the General of the grounders."

Starscream nodded and turned towards Crosscutter and Airwave. "You two, go find the analyst and get all the information he has on the situation. Coldsnap, show me where Barrage's office is. I'll speak to him. And Sunstorm…"

"I already said I'm not getting involved with Silverwing and I meant it," Sunstorm warned Starscream. "You're on your own."

Starscream glared at him, and then looked away. "Fine. Stay out of my way."

"Agreed," Sunstorm muttered and took back the PADDs from Coldsnap.

His fingers barely brushed against Coldsnap's arm, as he did so but Coldsnap's optics still darkened in pain and a few bolts of energy scorched his armor. Sunstorm took the PADDs back and looked away from the pain in Coldsnap's optics to damaged Starscream's. Starscream's fingers were also burned from dragging Sunstorm by the wing. Although Sunstorm's abilities were under control enough that he could be around other Seekers safely, he still couldn't touch them.

Starscream's auto-repair system that he had tuned to counter Sunstorm's abilities began to repair his damages. It wouldn't take too long and he'd be fine. He made a shooing motion towards Coldsnap's wingmates and then glared at Coldsnap.

They scattered.

* * *

 **And _here_ is Starscream being a pest. Imagine if he was like this all the time. Megatron would have a pretty hard time controlling him.**

 **Sunstorm is a cannon character, and my Sunstorm is based on the G1 Sunstorm from the Dreamwave comics. In the comics, Sunstorm is created by Shockwave as a sort of augmented clone of Shockwave, he gets activated accidentally and goes on a rampage, believing himself to be a religious deity in a holy cause. He causes so much trouble for the Autobots and the Decepticons that they work together (Skyfire and Starscream particularly) to stop him.**

 **Sunstorm finds a hidden energy well, recruiting the Decepticons to his "holy cause" and getting them to open it - all excpet for Starscream who still thinks his clone is completely insane. The Autobots show up to keep the Decepticons away from the energy. There's the expected battle. His unstable spark finally goes critical, causing his frame to begin to be torn apart from the inside from his power. He flies off and Skyfire (called Jetfire in the comic) "sacrifices himself" to keep Sunstorm from destroying the Earth.**

 **What happens in my story is similar to a point. Sunstorm was created six million years ago and went psycho just like he did in the comics, but it happened on Cybertron and was because Silverwing custom made a virus to mess with his systems. The Decepticons had to subdue him on their own and Starscream ended the problem by hitting Sunstorm's spark with his null ray and putting him in stasis.**


	24. Secrets of the Past

Crosscutter and Airwave poked their heads into Solarflare's office, Crosscutter knocking on the door. Solarflare had his head bent over a screen with fingers on the keyboard, but he looked up curiously at the knock. He smiled when he saw them and waved them in, looking back at his work.

"What do you need help with?" Solarflare asked helpfully. "I'm a little busy, but I might be able to help you."

"Orders from the Air Commander," Airwave scoffed and crossed his arms. "He wants all the information on the destroyed Autobot cells and the Rogue Sparkeater Case."

Solarflare reached above his head with a data crystal in his hand. "Already done. I had a feeling someone would come asking for it."

Crosscutter took the crystal, surprised that Solarflare had it ready. That was Solarflare though, every possibility taken into account and ready for everything. He was like that. Or rather, she was like that. Solarflare hid the fact that she was a femme for the obvious trouble that would bring. Shockwave would love to get ahold of a femme Decepticon, and a Seeker at that, to use as a breeding farm.

Crosscutter and Airwave knew only because Solarflare was Coldsnap's bondmate, and since they were in a wing with Coldsnap it was hard not to know. They looked at the crystal and then Cross tucked it into subspace. The two of them needed to give it to Starscream and in this case, the sooner the better. Starscream was scary when he got serious.

* * *

Coldsnap stood respectfully in the hallway outside Barrage's office when Starscream entered. The door wasn't locked, so Starscream was surprised to see that it was empty inside. He sighed, wondering where Barrage had gone. This was not the best time for him to vanish.

He stepped up to Barrage's desk idly, deciding he'd wait a few minutes. The PADDs scattered on the desk's surface had security locks. Starscream was getting impatient and he turned away from the desk with a tssk. As he turned away he spotted a shelf lined with Barrage's battle trophies. There were a few stray blasters, melee weapons, and carved off Autobot insignias.

Something caught his eye though as he started to turn away, and he stopped so he could take a closer look at it. There was something amid them that didn't belong. It was a small cylindrical hilt made of bright silver metal and touched with electrum to give it a refined and regal appearance.

Starscream slowly walked towards it and stared when he got closer, optics brightening in surprise. "A lightsword hilt?"

He leaned forward and plucked the weapon off the shelf. It was small, made for a youngling, and he recognized the design. Starscream had made it for Prince Warsong himself. Warsong's lightswords had never been recovered from the burned out ruins of Vos's palace. Why would one of them show up here of all places? It should have been lost like the body of its master, so why was it on Barrage's trophy shelf?

Starscream thumbed the activator, but the weapon remained silent. It had to be Warsong's. He had designed the lightswords so only Warsong could activate them, their silver-white blades mirroring his optics.

How was it here and why as a _trophy_? The Autobots were the ones who had attacked Vos and killed the royal family. Barrage had been in Kaon with Megatron and the other Decepticons at the time of the assault. He hadn't even been in Vos.

Outside the room, Starscream heard Coldsnap greet Barrage and he quickly stepped away from the shelf, slipping the hilt into subspace. By the time Barrage walked inside, Starscream was standing near the desk with his arms crossed behind his back.

"Air Commander," Barrage greeted him, a little surprised. "I wasn't aware you were on Cybertron."

Starscream shrugged that it wasn't his concern and stepped forward. "I want a report on the status of the Seekers present and a full roster."

"Silverwing, right?" Barrage sighed. "How did you find out he was here?"

"That's not important," Starscream deflected. "Can you get me the information?"

"Give me a minute," Barrage waved at him and sat behind his desk to try to find the most recent roster.

Starscream almost asked Barrage what Warsong's lightsword was doing here when the Autobots had attacked Vos, but let the question die unspoken. He could ask Barrage about it later. His first priority was getting the information and finally killing Silverwing.

Silverwing looked over the data from Frenzy's latest fight, excited. After B-00 had lapsed into his berserker programming he had attacked four Autobots and one Decepticon, and then started speaking. Never had a b-virus subject spoken in their alternate persona. It hadn't just been rambling either, but giving its own opinion.

"I won't let you lock me away again," Silverwing quoted Dark Frenzy's words.

It had spoken in first person. The berserker program had spoken on its own with its own opinion. Not only was B-00 alive, but he was evolving. A success at last.

"Well," Silverwing sighed. "I guess it's about time I headed to Earth."

Silverwing didn't have the fuel reserves to fly to Earth, so he would have to invade Kaon and steal the Decepticon's space bridge. He turned the hand the PADD was in over and looked at red diamonds tattooed on the back of his hands, a smile lifting his lips. This should be fun.

Silverwing copied the needed data to a crystal, and then set the PADD back on a station as he walked to Alpha cell's main control room. He needed the Autobots to continue to trust him, and that meant that he had to get Elita's permission first. It was a bit of a pain, but doable as he approached her.

"Did you find all the information you needed?" Elita asked him without swiveling around in her seat.

"Plenty Commander," Silverwing replied in the gentle and warm tone he always used when speaking with Autobots. "In fact, I think I learned a little too much."

Elita's optics darkened and she finally tuned to face the seeker. "What do you mean by that?"

Silverwing crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his helm thoughtfully. "Soundwave's cassette known as Frenzy is infected with one of my viruses, and the virus seem to be becoming stronger. To put it another way, I am surprised that all the Transformers he attacked will survive. As more time passes there will be less of a chance he'll leave survivors."

Elita thought about it and then nodded. "Considering how easily he took out five Transformers I can see why you would be concerned. Do you have an idea?"

"Maybe," Silverwing shook his head. "I'm worried more so. Frenzy is a cassette with an empathic bond to Soundwave and Soundwave's other cassettes. They used that bond to suppress the berserker programming. If the berserker virus continues to strengthen then there is a chance it will spill over and infect the others. Then there would be five cassettes and Soundwave with berserker programming, and no way to suppress it. As Soundwave is a telepath it could continue to jump and infect other Transformers."

"A worst case scenario," Elita mused darkly. "How likely is that?"

"It's impossible to tell from second-hand reports," Silverwing admitted somewhat shyly. "I would have to go to Earth in person and see his control lapse."

Things got noticeably quieter in the Alpha's base when Silverwing said those words.

"Travel to Earth," Elita repeated. "I suppose you could always use the Decepticon's space bridge, but are you certain you have to go to Earth?"

"In order to analyze it accurately I would have to," Silverwing admitted reluctantly, averting his eyes. "It might be better if I do go. The virus I used on him was a prototype, and my abilities have since then increased. I might be able to develop an antivirus and cure it, which may be necessary it if does infect the other Decepticons. The last thing Prime needs to deal with is Megatron with berserker programming."

"That's true," Elita chuckled and glanced back at her screen.

"Elita," one of the alpha cell spoke up and stepped forward. "Are you really going to let Silverwing leave?"

"We might have to, at least temporarily Lancer," Elita assured the violet and orange femme. "It sounds like the situation on Earth could become dangerous if left unchecked and the boys could be in real trouble."

This was perfect, Silverwing thought in amusement. Elita was now making his point for him. Weren't the Autobots so helpful?

"He's the only Seekers we rebels have," Lancer complained.

"Air Warrior," Silverwing whispered, although his voice wasn't heard.

"Agreed," Elita nodded, "and having a flier has made things easier and safer for us rebels. However, we managed without a flier before Silverwing and we have other rebel cells to work with. I think we will be fine for a few weeks."

Lancer looked away, but had to admit that Elita had a point. They had met up with the other rebel cells shortly after Elita had been captured by the Decepticons and used to lure the Autobots into a trap. With multiple cells working together things had become easier for them, but Silverwing was the real prize. Even if he wasn't here, there were plenty of other rebels to coordinate with.

"Is the situation on Earth really that dangerous?" Moonracer asked, thoughts flashing to Powerglide.

"It could become very bad, very quickly, with very little warning," Silverwing summed up in an apologetic voice. "I'm sorry. I know this is sudden."

He rubbed the back of his helm and looked away shyly as if upset he was putting the rebels in such a tight spot.

"We'll be fine without you for a bit Silverwing," Chromia smiled. "You better go rescue everyone on Earth, especially since it is your virus."

"I know, I know," Silverwing assured them. "It was a mistake. One I had best rectify before the programming does slip out of control and infect the other Decepticons."

"How are you going to get to Earth?" Firestar chimed in. "Isn't it too far away to fly there?"

"It is," Silverwing agreed, "but like Elita said I think I can borrow the Decepticon's space bridge. I am certain I can override the controls, and considering that the spacebridge has almost exclusively been connected to Earth the coordinates for the planet will either be registered or saved. I won't need to do any equations."

Which was fortunate since Silverwing didn't know the equations.

"When are you leaving?" Chromia asked.

"Now," Silverwing said strongly. "The longer I wait the more likely the Decepticons will realize what I'm doing. If I'm going to hijack the spacebridge, I would rather they not know that I'm coming. Will you tell Blockade that I'm leaving?"

"You won't tell him yourself?" Elita asked curiously.

"Blockade has a tendency to… ramble about certain things," Silverwing said with a sigh and a smile.

Elita smiled back at him, well aware of what Silverwing meant. "I suppose he does. I'll tell him. Do you intend to go yourself, or want us to create a distraction?"

"A distraction will mean the base being put on red alert," Silverwing pointed out. "I would rather slip in when their guard is lowered instead of when they are actively looking for intruders."

"Very well," Elita said, trusting the flier knew how to manage.

Silverwing nodded thanks and quickly left the Autobot base.

* * *

Sunstorm walked silently along one of the hallways in the base, alone as usual. His frame emitted soft light from the power contained within, as if he was glowing in the dark. He hated that about his abilities. Even if he could fully supress his powers, his spark had become dependent on them. Eliminating them would kill him, but that might be for the best. When he remembered what had happened six million years ago when Silverwing had infected him with that berserker virus, he still shuddered.

He crossed his arms behind his helm as he walked and exhaled in frustration. Even the beat of Sunstorm's spark was not normal. Oddly, he found himself half-wishing that Starscream had killed him six millennia ago.

Abruptly, he stopped walking. He stared down the hallway, and then quickly ran forward. Lying face down in a pool of spreading energon was a Deception grounder. His color scheme had already dulled to grey in death, and Sunstorm saw one injury when he rolled the deceased Transformer over. There was one shot to his chest where his sparkchamber was. It was as close to execution style as Sunstorm had ever seen, and was likely done by a professional. Decepticons had been known to kill each other before, so it was only when he realized the deathblow had been dealt by an Autobot weapon that he activated his comm.

"This is Sunstorm," Sunstorm broadcasted on a general Decepticon frequency. "I'm in Sector 3, 5th floor near the spacebridge. I have a Decepticon whose been killed by an Autobot weapon. I believe we have an intruder."

Sunstorm stood from the body and primed one of his rifles, preferring to use them over his ability as he could control the damage his rifles wrought.

"An intruder?" A voice Sunstorm recognized as Starscream's demanded over the communicator. "Did you see them?"

"No, just the body," Sunstorm told his brother.

"Secure the spacebridge," Starscream ordered. "You're the only one close to it, and that's probably what the intruder's going to hit."

"Understood," Sunstorm complied and stepped over the body to hurry as quietly as possible to the Spacebridge.

Sunstorm reached it in a few minutes and found the locked door that kept unauthorized personnel out had been forced open. The panel beside the door looked as if it had crosswired, and Sunstorm primed his second rifle as he stood beside the open doorway. After taking a second and a quick breath, he stepped into the room sharply and raised both rifles.

He didn't see anyone, and that made him wary. Cautiously, he took a slow step inside the control room, looking ahead, to both sides, and even sparing a glance upward. There were no Transformers. Considering the shape the door's lock was in, this only served to make Sunstorm more wary. An intruder had come this way, so _where was he_?

Sunstorm's instincts trounced his radar and he whipped around and fired. His shot went wild as something like wire wrapped haphazardly around his wrist and dragged his aim off target. He let out a sound of surprise as the wire ensnared both of his wrists and wrapped around his rifles, cutting off his ability to use the. The wire tugged forward and he fell on his stomach, unable to catch himself.

"What?" Sunstorm asked as he tried to tear one of his arms free.

The attempt was in vain for the wire, some sort of plasma construct, was simply too strong for him to damage. He hesitated when the black plasma stirred a suppressed memory from six million years ago, and he swallowed. This couldn't be… Sunstorm couldn't have run into him again!

Then he heard a soft chuckle, laced with wry amusement. Slowly, Sunstorm raised his helm. He couldn't look too far up, but it was enough to identify the grey and gold-striped frame of Silverwing.

"Look what I caught," Silverwing said with another chuckle, "a little misfit from Shockwave's lab. Hello again, Sunstorm."

Sunstorm laxed his control, and the slight glow to his frame grew as he tapped into his powers. This was one time where he wouldn't hesitate to use them. A glimmer of crimson, and suddenly Silverwing's crystal shard went through Sunstorm's left optic. He shrieked at the pain, but Silverwing managed to keep his grip on him.

The remaining vision from Sunstorm's right optic turned fuzzy and the colors began to fade away as if he was looking at everything through a black-and-white lens. Binary code and Vosian letters ran across his sight, traveling horizontally and vertically in random streams. Sunstorm knew this sensation, and Silverwing smiled as he recalled his shard and it went back to hovering around his wrist, freeing Sunstorm's arms.

"There," Silverwing hummed brightly. "The paralysis will wear off in a few minutes, and when it does you'll give the Decepticons something to think about besides my usage of their precious bridge. I hope you enjoy this Sunstorm, after all, it is the improved version of my old virus."

"What?" Sunstorm whispered again and then he felt everything become hazy as the virus began to settle into his systems.

"Starscream won't be able to stop you with his thrice-damned nullray this time either," Silverwing promised and then stepped over the fallen Seeker towards the bridge.

Silverwing had managed to program the Space Bridge before Sunstorm had arrived, so he was able to walk right in and be transported to Earth. Sunstorm tried to sit up, head spinning and gyro's unstable, but he couldn't do it. He wasn't even able to raise his arm and shoot before the doors to the Spacebridge closed and the bridge activated.

"No," Sunstorm whispered, one arm over his helm in a fearful movement. "Not again, not again."

He could hear that someone was running and entering, and Sunstorm looked up at the intruders. Even with only one blurred optic, he could see and sense that it was Starscream. In a way, that filled Sunstorm with relief. Starscream was strong enough to kill him, and was nigh impossible to kill himself. Many times Starscream had survived something he shouldn't.

"Star-" Sunstorm tried to stay, voice cracking.

He could feel his control slipping away, almost like he was going into stasis. Sunstorm knew he was not about to go into stasis though. The paralysis was wearing off. Starscream had to kill him now, before he was able to move again.

"Sil-wi-" Sunstorm tried to warn him, a difficult feat with a half-paralyzed vocalizer.

Starscream's optics brightened, and Sunstorm could tell he knew exactly what name he was trying to say. His brother, because that was what Starscream was to him, knelt in front of him. He was trying to say something, but Sunstorm couldn't hear. Starscream turned and started giving orders, likely for a medic.

"No!" Sunstorm managed to say with as much force as he could muster.

Starscream looked back down at him, listening.

"Kill me," Sunstorm whispered, too quietly for Starscream to hear.

Starscream leaned a little closer, so Sunstorm repeated himself.

"Kill me," he told Starscream.

From Starscream's reaction, he had heard his plea this time. It was too late though because by then Sunstorm just slipped away. Then all that was left was his power, and the darkness of Silverwing's berserker program.

* * *

 **Silverwing did a lot. Technically, my story mentions events back as far as eleven million years ago, one million years _before_ the war when Cybertron is in its Golden Age. The last four million years the main characters spent in stasis, but that still leaves six million of the war and one million before it. **


	25. Ten Million Years Ago (Part 2)

Prince Sunstrike stood with Starscream and Strafe, silver eyes bright with stupor behind his orange-tinted visor. Below the three of them lay one of the commercial districts of Vos and more Vosians then Sunstrike even knew existed. He wished that he hadn't spent so much time in the palace because he was _not_ prepared for this.

Sunstrike looked at his friends standing on either side of him, but they appeared to be perfectly at ease. They came here regularly, so this was nothing new to them. For the past month, Sunstrike had been coming to _Osprey's_ and slowly acclimating to life outside the controlled political atmosphere of the palace. For all his time at the café though, he was not as prepared to see life in a truly uncontrolled atmosphere as he thought he was. He suddenly regretted accepting Starscream's offer and coming here.

The sheer amount of activity was unbelievable. Sunstrike had seen Air Warriors, servants, nobles, ambassadors, and other officials within the palace but _never_ had he seen so many Vosians in one place before. There were more Vosians here than he had seen in Emperor Windstar's court on the busiest day. It was hard to believe that there were this many Vosians in the entire city-state let alone one market. This was the largest market in the capital, but it was still unbelievable.

Unlike the grounders in Iacon who loved dressing up as neon-colored rainbows, most Seekers favored darker tones. Instead of five or six random colors, most had one primary and one subcolor. Occasionally you got one like Starscream who had a third color.

Some had full-body stripes while others had smaller designs on parts of their body. Many mimicked the Vosian symbol the Air Warriors wore on their wing with their own personal symbol. The added tattoos were often neon enough to impress an Autobot. When you put all of that together, it accounted for a vastly colorful and mixed crowd.

Starscream tapped him on his winglet, jolting Sunstrike from his daze. Sunstrike glanced at him but Starscream was waiting patiently for the prince to adjust. He might have to wait a long time. Strafe had a more irritated look, obviously impatient to be off.

"Why don't you go ahead Strafe?" Starscream offered him. "You can tell us what stands are open."

Strafe nodded agreement and quickly parted from their company. Sunstrike remained where he was, trying to stabilize his servos from the overload. Here he thought that there were a lot of Vosians at _Osprey's_. The crowd Osprey drew was nothing compared to this.

Starscream sat down on the roof they were patiently. "Whenever you're ready we'll rejoin Strafe."

Sunstrike didn't respond, gathering his courage to enter the mass of Vosians. There were Vosians in their adult, youngling, and sparkling frames, and a mass on the ground and in all levels of the air.

Starscream watched him for a little bit before smiling and asking wryly, "how do you expect to become Emperor if you can't handle a crowd?"

Sunstrike felt the energon in his veins warm with embarrassment and he raised his head confidently. "I'm ready."

"If you say so," Starscream shrugged.

He seemed amused though Sunstrike did his best to ignore it. Letting Starscream lead, Sunstrike followed him into the crowd, hoping he looked braver then he felt. His sparkbeat was loud in his audios and he walked a little closer to Starscream then he needed to. The amount of Vosians here was stifling and the noise was deafening.

Sunstrike tried to look everywhere at once and was so busy looking around that he bumped into Starscream when he stopped walking. Starscream stumbled forward half a step and glanced over his shoulder at him. Shyly, Sunstrike looked down. His optics flittered upward around Starscream to see him wave at a dark grey seeklet that was weaving through the crowd in their direction.

"Hey ya, Screamer," the seeklet greeted him.

Starscream scowled instantly. "My name is Starscream. Stop calling me that Ghostflight."

Sunstrike stared at the seeklet without meaning to and Ghostflight noticed him. "Who are you and why are you staring?"

"My name's Sunslash," Sunstrike fibbed, knowing it wouldn't be wise for him to admit he was the crown prince in public, "and your optics are blue."

Ghostflight flustered, half raising a hand as if to hide his sky blue optics. Instead, he retorted, "So are Screamer's."

"Starscream," Starscream muttered, "my name is Starscream."

Neither seemed to hear him.

"Yeah," Sunstrike agreed with Ghostflight, "but his are dark blue-gold. Yours are bright blue – like Iacon blue."

Ghostflight's winglets fluttered up as the Seeklet huffed defensively. They reacted with his emotions. Again, Sunstrike was surprised. Moodwings such as his were a rare spark mutation.

"Oh, so what?" Ghostflight snipped.

"His father's a grounder," Starscream explained, "Iacon native."

"Hey!" Ghostflight took a swing at Starscream though the hit was too far away to connect. "Why're you telling him? That's personal."

"It's also obvious," Starscream pointed out, "and nothing to be ashamed of."

Ghostflight hesitated, scuffing a foot idly. He wasn't ashamed of his father.

"Was he a member of the Autobot faction?" Sunstrike asked.

That was more sensitive, but Ghostflight nodded after a brief hesitation. "He used to be before my mother showed him how idiotic they were. By the way, who did you say you were? I don't recall seeing you around here before."

"He just moved here from the 3rd Ward," Starscream answered smoothly.

"Huh," Ghostflight said dubiously. "Well, welcome to the 1st Ward."

Vos, unlike some of the more unorganized city-states, was broken into 19 Wards. The 1st Ward, also called the Core, was at the center of Vos where the palace was. Surrounding the 1st Ward like the petals of a flower were six more wards, called the Inner Ring. Encircling them were the remaining 12 Wards, called the Outer Ring, and each of them bordered another city-state.

"Thanks," Sunstrike replied in a similarly dubious tone.

Starscream looked at him seriously, his optics thoughtfully dark. "Where are you Ghostflight?"

Sunstrike glanced blankly at Starscream and Ghostflight scowled at him. "Screamer, how can you tell?"

"It's Starscream and I'm not sure how," Starscream admitted. "I can just tell you're not here."

"Huh?" Sunstrike said blankly. "What are you two talking about?"

"I'm up on the roof over there," Ghostflight jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

Starscream and Sunstrike looked in the direction he pointed and indeed saw a dark grey seeklet sitting on the edge of the roof. His wings were drooped and his helm lowered, optics offlined. It was identical to the seeklet standing in front of them.

"You're getting better," Starscream offered.

"The adults can't even tell me apart from one of my holograms," Ghostflight pouted, wings stiff. "How can you?"

"He can create holograms," Starscream explained for Sunstrike's benefit. "His mad scientist father made a power rectifier chip for him."

"I thought most with abilities got their chip when they got their youngling frame," Sunstrike stared.

"Not where my father's involved," Ghostflight chuckled, wingtips wiggling in amusement. "Speaking of, he's around here somewhere. I better find him. See ya."

Then his image pixelated and dissolved into tiny, prismatic fragments. The fragments vanished. Optics bright and wide, Sunstrike turned towards the other Ghostflight on the rooftop and saw the other Ghostflight raise his helm. His bright blue optics had come online. Ghostflight waved at them and then stood and started to walk along the parapet to look for his father.

Starscream shook his helm and motioned for Sunstrike to follow him as they attempted to find Strafe.

"If you ever want to know something just ask Ghostflight," Starscream tossed over his wing at Sunstrike. "He's almost like a resident spymaster. Be warned, he enjoys using his holograms way too much. I swear he can see _through_ their optics."

"He was convincing," Sunstrike agreed.

A group of younglings walked by them and one of them bumped into Sunstrike. He stumbled against Starscream, and the younglings, chatting, kept walking without looking back. Sunstrike made a face and took a step forward towards him. Starscream grabbed the edge of his wing before he could.

"Hey!" Sunstrike whined. "What are you doing? They nearly knocked me over."

"They're younglings," Starscream shrugged, "some of them are like that."

"But I'm their prince," Sunstrike hissed softly.

Starscream looked around, and then quickly herded Sunstrike out of the plaza into a side alley. The shock of being in such a large crowd and then the wonder of Ghostflight's ability were rapidly wearing off. It was a little quieter there, giving them some degree of privacy.

"Not here you're not _Sunslash_ ," Starscream emphasized Sunstrike's alias. "They don't know any better. Besides, they don't mean any harm. We're smaller than them. It's likely they didn't really even notice us."

Sunstrike's retort was cut off when Starscream suddenly straightened and looked down the alley. He stepped back, obviously seeing something, and Sunstrike glanced into the shadows as well. There was a Vosian standing there with a blaster in one hand, and he raised a finger to his lips in the universal sign for silence.

Sunstrike was stupidly surprised, wondering when that Vosian had arrived. He hadn't heard a sound. How did Starscream know about him?

"Easy you two," the mech told them. "I have no wish to hurt you."

"Then why is your blaster out?" Starscream asked tartly.

He tried to judge how far it was back to the market grounds and how quickly someone could come if they heard him scream. Probably not faster than a blaster shot.

The mech looked at the blaster as if surprised to see he held it. "Oh? This old thing? Well you see, I am a little short of credits. I was thinking about selling it… unless you two have some you want to give me. I certainly don't _want_ to hurt seeklets."

Sunstrike's eyes fluttered to the blaster. It looked strange for a blaster, like there was something odd about the shape. He realized that the bar on the side that revealed its charge was half-full – enough of a charge to shoot. He didn't seem to realize what was going on so Starscream stepped in front of him and spoke to the mech politely.

"I'm afraid we don't," Starscream said in an almost apologetic tone. "We've already spent the credits our parents gave us."

Sunstrike glanced at Starscream blankly. The mech looked impressed by Starscream's calm demeanor and gave him and Sunstrike a quick once over. His eyes hesitated on Sunstrike and there was a moment where the sparklings feared he would recognize him as the prince.

"Your visor," the mech addressed Sunstrike. "That's high-class. I bet it's got targeting scanners and displays on it. That must have cost some credits to have it made for a seeklet's frame. Can I see it?"

"No," Sunstrike replied quickly.

If he took off his visor, he'd be exposing his silver optics.

"Oh come on," the mech smiled. "I just want to look at it."

He waved a hand dismissively, but it was the hand that held his blaster. Sunstrike took a step back when the barrel of it glided in front of him. Deltastorm had let the prince come to the shooting range and watch him practice, and Sunstrike was always surprised by how much damage even a hand-held blaster could do. He suddenly got the feeling he and Starscream might be in trouble.

"My friend already said no," Starscream addressed the mech. "If you will excuse us, our parents will be wondering where we are."

He made a move to take a step back, and the mech frowned. Suddenly, he was not holding the blaster casually. Although the barrel was still pointed at the ground, he wrapped fingers around the grip, one finger on the trigger.

"I said let me see his visor," he repeated in a harsher voice. "I imagine it will be worth a few credits on the market."

"More like the black market," Starscream muttered under his breath.

That made the mech's scowl dissolve into a frown and he raised his blaster so it was pointing at Starscream. "Don't you know children should listen to their elders?"

Sunstrike gave a start when the blaster came up, suddenly realizing that this Vosian was trying to mug them. The mech's finger was near the trigger, and Sunstrike now realized that there was a silencer on the end of the gun. That was why it was shaped oddly.

The seeklets heard something pass over their head and suddenly the mech wasn't holding the blaster anymore. Blankly, the mech looked at his now empty palm. Someone cleared their throat behind them, and the seeklets half-turned around as the mech looked up. Three younglings were standing at the mouth of the alleyway. The one in the lead was holding the mech's blaster.

"Is this yours?" He asked, casting a respectful look over the blaster. "I happen to love blasters. This is a model 2G, right? It's not exactly a concealed civilian blaster, more like military grade. How did you get it? You're obviously no Air Warrior."

"Hey!" The mech shouted, "Give me that back you brat."

"All right," the youngling shrugged and opened the palm of his hand.

He looked at the blaster and after a moment, it rose off his palm so it levitated in the air above it. Sunstrike could almost feel his optics growing huge. Telekinesis? Oh _Primus_ , was he a psychic?

Then the blaster shattered. That was the best way Sunstrike could describe it. It just shattered into all of its component pieces. The disassembled pieces swirled around his hand and the youngling tilted his head as he looked at them. Its powerpack hovered in the center of the pieces, giving off a faint pink luminescence.

"W-what did you do?" The mech asked, taking half a step back in surprise.

The youngling offered it to the mech. "I said I would give it back to you, but I didn't say in one piece. You can take it and leave if you want."

"Or Flightmist can do to you what he did to the blaster," one of the youngling's friends added.

Sunstrike suddenly realized that the other youngling was holding a blaster. The third had a knife in her hand, holding it between her fingers by the tip, ready to throw it. Flightmist raised the hand that was not suspending the pieces of the blaster towards the mech behind the sparklings.

"You're quite a coward for targeting sparklings," Flightmist pointed out. "Are you too afraid to try to rob full-grown fliers? How about I put you out of your misery and dissect you to."

The mech took a full step back this time at Flightmist's dark look with thinly veiled excitement at the prospect.

"No-no," the mech stuttered. "You can keep the blaster. I'm going."

Then he turned and ran down the alleyway. Once there was bit of distance between him and the group, he transformed and took to the sky. Sunstrike looked at Flightmist and his friends with huge optics, amazed and terrified.

"Hello Flightmist," Starscream greeted the psychic with the shattered blaster.

Flightmist flashed a smile at Starscream, revealing his teeth had been modified so the canines were fangs. Like most younglings with the mod, he had probably gotten it done without his parents' permission. His fingers moved and the stray pieces of the blaster came together back as a whole. Once reassembled, the blaster, now able to shoot again, dropped into Flightmist's palm.

"You looked like you needed some help," the femme smiled at Starscream.

"We did," Starscream nodded. "How did you know we needed help?"

"I told them," the third wingmate said, returning his blaster to subspace. "I sensed it."

"Did not," the femme said.

"Did to," he replied.

"Are you two psychics?" Sunstrike asked them cautiously.

Flightmist smiled and shook his head while the other mech nodded. The femme whacked the mech's wing.

"You are not a psychic Mindwipe, try as you might to convince everyone else," she chided her friend.

"My abilities come from my power rectifier chip," Flightmist interrupted, ignoring his friends, "not directly from my spark like a psychic. I can create an electromagnet field to control metallic objects near me. Magnetic objects are easier and no, I can't actually "dissect a Transformer". The alloy in our frames is too complex."

Which meant he had bluffed the would-be mugger. Hmm. He'd done a really good job of it.

"Mindwipe claims to be a psychic," the femme added. "He says he can hear ghosts."

"If I can't then how did I know those two were in danger?" Mindwipe challenged. " _I'm_ the one that told you two to follow me. You weren't aware of anything."

"ESP and the ability to speak to the dead are two very different things," the femme put a hand on her hip and waved her other hand, still holding the knife, at him. "The least you could do is tell the truth. You don't even _have_ a power rectifier chip."

"I don't need one," Mindwipe threw his hands into the air. "Psychics get their power straight from their spark. It can't be removed or disabled."

Sunstrike gave a small start when he realized that these three younglings that had just saved them were the same three that had bumped into him and Starscream. Flightmist was the one that had almost knocked him over. He looked at the three of them thoughtfully.

"We'll need to report this," Starscream spoke up finally.

"I'll do it," the femme said, her yellow optics only a few shades brighter than the gold-ice blue color of her form. "One of the advantages of having an Air General for a father."

Sunstrike was surprised again, but this time on a darker note. The femme, he suddenly realized, was Stormfrost, the daughter of Air General Deltastorm. He didn't know her too well because she had a youngling frame and he was still a sparkling, but she had seen him around the palace. She might be able to recognize him as the prince.

"Unless Mindwarp wants to try to ah, psychically track our ne'er do well, we can't do much," Stormfrost continued.

Mindwarp gave her a scything look and Flightmist shrugged. There wasn't much he could do to stop her, especially when she had a point. It wasn't like Mindwarp could "sense" things on cue. Stormfrost didn't seem to recognize Sunstrike as she tucked her knife back into subspace.

"You two with someone?" Flightmist asked the pair instead.

"A friend," Starscream answered.

"You better catch up to him then," the unofficial leader of the wing nodded back towards the market. "I don't think our wannabe mugger is going to try anything like that again for a while."

He looked at the new blaster he had become the guardian of with a knowing smirk, and Starscream and Sunstrike said goodbye to the wings as they left the alley. Sunstrike was relieved he got away unnoticed.

"Starscream," Sunstrike asked, feeling a bit stupid. "Why did that mech try to attack us?"

Starscream gave him a curious look. "He wanted credits, and an easy way to make credits without working is by stealing them."

"Why would anyone hurt someone for money?" Sunstrike asked. "It's just money. There's plenty of it."

Starscream's expression darkened and Sunstrike had a feeling he'd said something extra stupid.

"There might be plenty of money for _you_ ," Starscream explained, "but it's a little harder for the rest of us to get the credits we need to eat and pay tax. Depending on how rich you are, doing something like that for credits isn't strange at all."

Sunstrike didn't understand, and had a feeling he wouldn't, so he dropped the subject. It seemed to be a touchy one with Starscream. Within a few seconds of them walking the two of them found Strafe… and Ghostflight.

"I told you I could lead you to them," Ghostflight said triumphantly with a wave at them. "I gotta go."

Starscream returned it, apparently having forgotten Sunstrike's questions. The hologram of him vanished from the air. Sunstrike knew that the 1st Ward had the most powered Vosians but he had no idea there were so many in _one marketplace_.

"Come on," Strafe told them by way of greeting, not suspecting that something very bad had almost happened. "I found a place selling energon suckers."

"Naturally," Starscream tipped his helm at him, "they're your favorite."

"Ever had an energon sucker Sunslash?" Strafe asked, using his alias.

Sunstrike shook his head and Strafe grinned. He grabbed one of the prince's arms and started dragging him towards the stall. The young prince let himself be dragged, turning over recent events in his mind. There was a lot to think about.

* * *

 **No, I don't expect you to remember the names of everyone being mentioned.**


	26. Family Feud

It started out simple enough. Skyfire had been out for a flight to cool his servos, something that was becoming more and more common. The Autobots exasperated him, and Sideswipe was making things worse, seeing Skyfire more as a Seeker and less as an Autobot. His paranoia had spread to Cliffjumper and Red Alert easily enough, and now other Autobots seemed to be siding with their comrade first and a defector like Skyfire second.

Their slurs about the Seekers and Starscream did not make things any easier for him. Worse, Skyfire had just learned something he wished he could forget. Vosians were unique in one regard: their sparks. The spark of a Vosian was flexible enough that it could take the strain of having an aerial transform, which was why all aerial transformers were either Vosian or had Vosian roots. This ability had been artificially grafted onto grounders, those without an aerial transform, to use anti-gravity systems and mimic flight, but it was hardly a comparison to an actual flier.

Due to the flexibility of Vosian sparks, the sparks often mutated in unique ways to grant unique abilities. Skywarp's teleportation and Thundercracker's ability to generate and control sonic waves were just a few examples. Largely by using power rectifier chips, these abilities were harnessed and controlled to the Vosian's will.

Vosians alone had access to these unique capabilities and alone laid claim to the skies. These strengths, which could not easily be matched by others, made the other city-states fear them. That fear had been one of the main reasons behind Vos's independence from the Senate.

Skyfire had only now learned why so many Autobots had unique abilities, like Hound's holograms or Trailbreaker's forcefields. It was because after the start of the war the Autobots had taken to pillaging Seekers, Vosians who were allied with Megatron, and stealing their power rectifier chips. All the Autobots with unique abilities were using stolen power rectifier chips from dead Vosians. Autobot scientists found an Autobot who was compatible with the power rectifier chip, and then gave it to them. Decepticons never stooped so low as to pillage corpses, and Skyfire knew this was one of the reasons Seekers hated Autobots.

The knowledge had come to Skyfire an hour ago when he had seen Perceptor repairing Hound's power rectifier chip. Skyfire had recognized it for what it was. Now it was all too easy for him to guess which Autobot got their power from which Vosian.

Many had been friends of his or Spitfire's before the war. Hound's holograms, for example, were originally the ability of Ghostflight, a Vosian who was forever arguing with Starscream. Ghostflight's silver tongue and quick thinking matched Starscream's scientific mind and warrior instincts, so their arguments were quite memorable. With the use of his holograms, Ghostflight could move unnoticed and had a knack for gathering information and knowing things before anyone else did – and knowing more.

The femme Firefly, a friend of Empress Ravenwing, had been the original owner of Trailbreaker's power rectifier chip. She had been a medic, using her forcefield to keep her patients safe and send any enemy warriors trying to continue the fight scurrying away. Skyfire had had a crush on her at one point, something both Starscream and Spitfire had relished tormenting him with.

Windcharger's ability to create magnetic fields and manipulate metal had originally come from someone named Flightmist, the unofficial leader of a wing of three younglings that had been killed in the first wave of war. He liked to pretend he was telekinetic, dissecting metallic objects at will with his magnetism and threatening – bluffing – to do the same to his opponents. In fact, he took perverse pleasure in terrifying others.

Mirage's ability to turn invisible troubled Skyfire more than the others because the original owner of his power rectifier chip had been Scattershot, a gentle soul and one of Starscream's childhood friends. Skyfire had learned that after the death of the royal family, long after he had been frozen, Scattershot and Strafe had become Starscream's first wingmates and served the Deceptions with him. Scattershot had managed to fight without actually shooting a single Transformer, having such a fear of blasters that he refused to use one. His preference was to turn invisible and sow confusion, chaos, and fear behind Autobot lines while his wingmates shot down the fleeing Autobots.

During one such solo raid behind Autobot lines he had been captured. Starscream had known they could never rescue Scattershot from Iacon and had forbidden Strafe from going. He had gone anyway, but Starscream had refused to accompany him on the fool's mission, assuming Strafe would come to his senses and return. Neither had ever been seen again.

The list went on.

Power rectifier chips were crucial to allowing the Vosian to harness their ability safely, but the chip could be passed on to another. As long as their spark accepted the chip, they were able to use the ability imprinted to the chip, although to a weaker and more flawed degree. One example was that when Scattershot turned invisible, anything he was touching or holding also vanished, as did his footsteps and sound to some degree. Mirage could turn invisible, but he had none of the extra advantages Scattershot could use. It was just like how Trailbreaker couldn't turn his forcefield into a mirror to reflect attacks as Firefly had once been able to.

Skyfire had been told that Megatron once made a machine to integrate the power rectifier chips of all his Decepticons into him, something that allowed him to use the abilities of those Decepticons. Although it puzzled the Autobots, it made perfect sense to Skyfire. Despite the Autobots disgust at Megatron's foul play, the Autobots did the same thing by raiding bodies to steal the power. A power rectifier chip, should a Vosian have one, was their most prized possession. To see the Autobots abusing the items, and to further pretend the chips were _theirs_ , like they had some divine right to it, rattled Skyfire.

That was why Skyfire had gone flying. He had needed to clear his head and let this new reality sink in. It was nothing but bad luck that he had been flying over the airbase when he had, and had been startled when his radar had warned him of an approaching Decepticon jet. His first instinct had been Starscream, but then he had realized it was too large to be a normal Seeker.

Skyfire had swooped down only to see an all too familiar black jet wreaking havoc on the airstrip. He wasn't filling energon cubes or doing anything but agitating the humans and enjoying their attempts to try and shoot him. Knowing Spitfire, Skyfire doubted he was under any orders at all. More likely his brother was bored.

Skyfire hesitated, but realized there were no other Autobots in the vicinity and he couldn't let his brother go unchallenged. Loathe as he was to attack his twin, Skyfire still tipped a wing and made straight for the airbase and Spitfire. Spitfire didn't notice Skyfire approaching, too busy watching a pair of human F-15 jets fly towards him in an attempt to attack. With a smile, he took off and transformed to play with the jets a little. His shots were a meter off their wings, making the pilots flinch.

"Humans!" A voice over the communicator suddenly transmitted on an open frequency in clear English. "This is Skyfire of the Autobots. Break off your attack on the Decepticon. I will take over."

"Skyfire?" Spitfire muttered and checked his radar as an Autobot signal suddenly appeared. "What's he doing here?"

"Understood," one of the human pilots transmitted, causing both of them to break off their attack and circle back to the base.

Spitfire tssked that his toys were leaving and fired a shot. His shot should have blown up the jet he was aiming at, but hit Skyfire instead when he flew in front of the shot. The shot raked Skyfire's wing and made him cringe in pain, but he circled around anyway and put himself between his brother and the jets on an intercept course. At first, he couldn't believe Spitfire would kill for fun, and then he realized that he would.

"Spitfire," Skyfire transmitted in Vosian this time. "You break off your attack. I don't want to hurt you."

"You? Hurt me?" Spitfire laughed over the communicator. "I should like to see that traitor."

Spitfire shot at Skyfire again, and Skyfire dodged them. Neither were very graceful due to their bulky size, but Spitfire's experience in killing _vastly_ outstripped Skyfire's. He knew he didn't stand a chance against him, but the first concern Skyfire had was getting Spitfire away from the humans while he sent out a call for reinforcements.

"I'm no traitor," Skyfire demanded and pulled away from the base.

Spitfire followed just as Skyfire hoped, and his brother shot back a reply of his own. "Oh you're not, are you? What else would you call that red tattoo on your nosecone? You've sided with the Autobots and Iacon!"

"I could never be a Decepticon," Skyfire hissed. "Unlike you, I'm no killer."

Spitfire gave a sound similar to a snort as he tried to blast off Skyfire's wing and merely singed his tailfin. "That's why Starscream told me. He said to calm down, and that I shouldn't be surprised by your choice. Starscream reminded me that you're nothing like us. He's right; _we're_ not traitors."

Spitfire's next shot landed, although it was because Skyfire was surprised to hear Starscream had been calming Spitfire down instead of riling him up for a kill. Starscream sometimes took perverse pleasure in torturing Spitfire in that regard. Then he pretended to be surprised when Spitfire threw something at him to vent – or else threw him over a table as had happened once. Skyfire recovered, and with the human base out of range, was able to take a metaphoric breath in relief.

"I am not a traitor," Skyfire repeated.

"What else would you call it?" Spitfire demanded. "You know what the Autobots did to us millions of years before this war. Their slaughter of the royal family was hardly the first thing they have ever done to us fliers, or the last. Don't you know your history?"

"Of course I know," Skyfire promised in exasperation at his brother's foolish stubbornness. "All Vosians know about the first Great War when we fliers won our freedom from the grounders. No one liked the fact that Vos was able to maintain its independence."

There was no response from Spitfire, and Skyfire checked to make sure the comm line was open and that his brother was still on the radar. He got one out of two. The communicator was open, but there was no sign of Spitfire. It confused Skyfire, and he scanned around visually for his brother to no avail.

A shadow fell over him, and Skyfire detected Spitfire just as his brother transformed and dropped on top of him, hand slamming into a wing with the tearing sound of metal. One of Skyfire's wings was badly twisted and he was dragged out of the sky. Spitfire released him just before he crashed, allowing Skyfire to transform and try to land properly. It didn't quite work and he tumbled over before landing flat on his stomach, almost stunned into stasis.

He mildly wondered when his brother had gotten so stealthy when he felt something behind him, and heard a soft click above his head. Skyfire didn't need to see to know that his brother was pointing his laser rifle directly at Skyfire's head. It was strange, but Skyfire had always thought Starscream would be the one to kill him. Skyfire didn't panic. His rifle was still in subspace, and it would take several seconds to draw it, seconds he didn't have.

There was a moment's hesitation, but Spitfire didn't pull the trigger. Skyfire was caught off-guard by his hesitance, aware that his brother had never hesitated before. It was what made him such a perfect Decepticon. He noticed distantly that the Aerialbots had acknowledged his message and were en route to his location. He just needed to buy time until they got here.

"Why are you working with the grounders?" Spitfire repeated the question in a slightly softer tone of voice.

His question was blatantly sincere, and it surprised Skyfire. "Because I could never wear a Decepticon insignia."

"You don't have to wear a Decepticon insignia!" Spitfire almost shouted, finger twitching on the trigger. "Yet you wear an Autobot one. I don't understand _why_. In the past, the Autobot political faction tracked down Transformers whose spark were mutated to so they could handle the strain of having an aerial transform and flexible enough to create a unique ability. Under the Senate's orders, they quarantined Transformers from every city-state with our "condition" within a series of energon mine and pools."

"I know that," Skyfire interrupted. "The human term would be ghetto, and they called it Vos."

"Not ghetto," Spitfire snarled darkly, low in his throat. "The proper human term for ancient Vos was concentration camp. You know how many tens of thousands of our ancestors died while mining the energon for Iacon and the Autobots who ruled it?"

"I don't need a history lesson, "Skyfire tried to argue.

"Then why do you wear the Autobot crest!" Spitfire did shout this time and stored his rifle in subspace so he could grab Skyfire and drag him upwards. "They're still Autobots, still monsters! They _tortured_ us and used us in _experiments_ to create augments or the Chimera from legends. It was _their_ experiments that gave rise to the Seers, so _why_?"

"Because I can't be a Decepticon!" Skyfire finally shouted back, repeating his earlier statement. "I'm not a killer like _you_."

Spitfire almost flinched at the words, and Skyfire shoved his brother back so he was standing on his own.

"I can't become a neutral either," Skyfire continued. "A neutral doesn't have the protection of a faction and would be hunted by both. Since I am forced to pick a side, I choose the Autobots. I know what Iacon has done to us in the past, but I don't believe that Optimus Prime is responsible for the royal family's death. I believe they have changed since the First Great War."

"So what?" Spitfire asked sarcastically. "You think it was Megatron that killed the royals? Kaon has no feud with us Vosians. The Decepticon _rebellion_ against Iacon and the Autobot's rule started because Vos was able to win its freedom. If anything, Kaon is our ally."

"Megatron," Skyfire repeated, the thought not having crossed his mind before. "Actually, I could see Megatron murdering a few Transformers."

"Impossible," Spitfire dismissed without hesitation. "If Emperor Sunstrike hadn't been killed he would have forged an alliance with Kaon to help them stand against Iacon _anyway_. The Autobots killed the royals because we were going to side against them, and they were ticked off that Sunstrike had turned down their "generous offer" to ally ourselves with them against the "Kaon rebels." After everything Iacon did, they still thought they had the divine right to order us to help them, and they thought we would. A week later, the royal family is dead."

"I didn't know that part," Skyfire admitted.

"Maybe you should read up on the war," Spitfire suggested caustically. "You might be surprised what you'll learn about your Autobot allies. Or are you too scared to learn that they're not perfect goodie two-shoes after all? Are you scared to learn that the Autobots are just as corrupt as they were twenty million years ago? Everyone who has light has darkness, and vice versa."

Skyfire remembered Sideswipe's incident in the medbay where he had almost killed Grapple and held Ratchet at gunpoint. There was the sound of jets that suddenly started across the sky, and Spitfire looked off into the distance to see the approaching Aerialbots. He had a startled look as he stared at the jets, and slowly looked back at Skyfire.

"You called the Aerialbots?" He asked Skyfire carefully.

"You knocked me out of the sky," Skyfire told him impatiently. "What did you expect?"

Spitfire hesitated for a moment and then shrugged with a, "fair enough."

That was Spitfire.

"Don't stay with the Autobots," Spitfire warned Skyfire. "Megatron's newest superweapon of the week was being tested before I ditched the base to go flying. This time, it works. When Starscream gets back from his unauthorized excursion on Cybertron he's going to have a frell of a surprise waiting for him."

Skyfire's mind flashed to the lenses Wingstar had stolen from the lab and the black diamond from the museum. They had to have something to do with this new weapon, and Spitfire had said it was almost operational. He needed to alert Prime.

"You going to tattle on me?" Spitfire challenged, almost reading Skyfire's thoughts.

Skyfire was surprised that Spitfire had guessed right, and Spitfire gave him a rueful look.

"Predictable," Spitfire scorned. "Even after everything Iacon did to us fliers, you're still answering to them like some bit-brained kite."

His rifle materialized out of subspace and he pointed it at Skyfire darkly. Skyfire did not flinch, and after a moment of staring Spitfire lowered both the rifle and his eyes.

"Screamer was right," he muttered. "I can't pull the trigger. You're mistaken, but you're not trying to betray Vos. Unlike Silverwing, you don't deserve to die."

With that, Spitfire dematerialized his rifle and took off, leaving Skyfire to stare. Spitfire had to kick in his afterburners as the Aerialbots were close to his tailfins. Although Skyfire watched his brother, he did not chase after him. Four of the Aerialbots went streaking after him while Skydive landed near Skyfire.

"Are you alright?" He asked Skyfire patiently.

"I-I'm fine," Skyfire admitted. "You scared him off. Thank you for your timely arrival."

Skydive tipped his head in an unassuming manner, typical of him, and then looked over Skyfire's damaged wing.

"It looked like you two were speaking," Skydive implied, hoping to coax Skyfire into saying something.

"He was trying to understand why I would join the Autobots," Skyfire admitted, truthfully.

"Did he let anything interesting slip?" Skydive asked smoothly.

Skyfire thought about Spitfire's admittance of a working superweapon, and then his scorn and his last comment. Starscream had had several opportunities to kill Skyfire by now, but he always managed to survive. When it came to combat Starscream was perfectly capable of killing a Transformer, and the fact he was still alive made Skyfire thoughtful. Perhaps his old friend was not as twisted of a Decepticon as he appeared. Besides, it wasn't like Megatron's superweapons ever worked.

He could amend what his next words by saying that he had remembered something, so after a careful moment's deliberation, Skyfire spoke.

"No," Skyfire lied steadily, "nothing interesting at all."

* * *

 **I like the bad guys. If you've read some of my other stories you probably figured that out. Decepticons here, Sith in Star Wars, Romulans in Star Trek, even Slytherin in Harry Potter. One of the ways to get my reader to like the bad guys is to make the good guy seem less perfect.**

 **There's no such thing as a perfect good guy. No matter how justified your faction is in a war, it will commit atrocities. It's one of the problems with war. Neither side is truly perfect. That includes even the Autobots.**


	27. Blitzed

The first indication Coldsnap had that Sunstorm had gone berserk was seeing Starscream be tossed through the air and crash through the wall of a building as he was thrown from the space bridge control center. He exchanged looks with Crosscutter and Airwave and the three of them flew over to Starscream. They found their Air Commander in a heap just inside the wall of a storage building.

"Starscream," Coldsnap hissed as he knelt by his commander and shook his shoulder. "Starscream!"

"What the hell is that?" Airwave asked and raised his arms, his plasma rifles powering up instantly.

His wingmates raised their eyes and Coldsnap's optics brightened. Standing in front of the hole in the wall Starscream had just been thrown through was a golden blur. It was vaguely Seeker-shaped but so bright it was almost blinding.

"It's Sunstorm," Starscream said as he groaned, optics coming online.

He held a hand to his helm and then winced and looked over at his left wing. It was torn and crumbled, and he could feel energon running down his back where the metal had been fractured.

"Sunstorm?" Coldsnap repeated, looking between his commander and the golden blur. "Why is he going berserk?"

"Silverwing hit him with a virus," Starscream explained as he started to stand.

Coldsnap helped him, watching the golden flier as Sunstorm jumped to the ground and started attacking a few drones that had come to the disturbance. It was too easy for him to down them. All he did was wave a hand and a shockwave of energy melted them into puddles. Their shots ricocheted harmlessly, deflected away by his golden aura before ever touching his frame.

"He's not holding back," Starscream observed tartly. "You might as well lower your weapons. They can't hurt him."

"Huh?" Airwave said stupidly. "They can't?"

Starscream pointed. A wave of drones started shooting and Sunstorm waved a hand. He created a wave of energy and the plasma shots exploded midair in brilliant purple flashes, sending out shockwaves of energy that threw the drones back. Lightning flickered across his form, revealing he was undamaged. The drones were now in pieces.

"Ricochet's a killer," Starscream muttered, not taking his crimson optics off Sunstorm.

Airwave slowly lowered his rifles. "All right. If plasma shots don't work, how do I take him out?"

"You can't do it long-range," Starscream spoke softly, trying to figure out a strategy. "If you get close enough to use melee then you'll be too close. His aura will melt you like the drones."

"Well how did you do it last time?" Airwave demanded.

"You used your null ray," Crosscutter answered. "Point-blank range to his spark at full power after his chestplating was cracked. How did his chestplating get damaged?"

Starscream shook his head. He hadn't seen that. All he'd seen was the damage on Sunstorm's chest before he'd quickly taken advantage of it.

"As interesting as this conversation is," Airwave interrupted them mildly, "can it wait?"

They looked up as Airwave took a step back and gulped when they saw Sunstorm had finished with the drones. He had turned his head towards them, optics white. As he took a step forward, they took a step back. Then another.

"Starscream," Coldsnap said, fear lacing his shaking voice. "Please tell me you have a plan."

"I do," Starscream promised as Sunstorm raised a hand towards them. "Fly!"

"Huh?" Coldsnap asked.

He glanced over his shoulder in time to see that Starscream had already taken off with Airwave hot on his heels. Coldsnap glanced between them and Sunstorm as Crosscutter followed them and then took off and transformed himself. Given the circumstances, he supposed Starscream's plan was the most prudent.

* * *

Shockwave was thinking about the Vosian-turned-Seekers when Sunstorm blitzed. He was irked by Coldsnap's actions in bringing Starscream here and Starscream's own reaction. He had threatened to blow up Shockwave with one of his clusterbombs! Why was it Starscream sometimes got like this, and why did the loyalty of the Vosians to him remain?

Tradition dictated that since Starscream had been the Air Commander of Vos, he was also Regent of the city-state. With the royal family… indisposed, Starscream became their ruler. The royal family was dead though. It had been for ten million years. He knew tradition was a very important part of Vosian culture, but for it to go this far? Only a handful of the current Seekers had been alive before the royal family's death. It shouldn't be enough to influence the entire population made and born after the Vosians had joined the Decepticons. How could it still matter so much to them?

He knew that the Vosian's religion wasn't the one shared by everyone else: the two brothers Primus and Unicron. Theirs was Sunstar, the first Transformer to ever fly. Sunstar had been one of the multitude or Irregulars separated from the general Transformer population 20 million years ago and placed in an energy-rich section of Cybertron in a forced labor camp. The camp and its encompassing region had been called Vos.

Like all Irregulars, Sunstar had been a Transformer born with a mutation that made his spark unusually flexible. Given the right circumstances, a unique and powerful ability could manifest itself. It was because of the threat they posed that the Senate had them rounded up and placed in Vos to mine the energon and Cybertonium found there.

Sunstar had created the Rebels, and his rebellion had led to the First Great War that ended in Vos becoming an independent city-state. The energon they had been exploited to mine suddenly had to be bought by the other city-states, and it had helped Sunstar and Vos to become a superpower on par with the capital, Iacon.

Some reports said that Sunstar was the first Cybertronian to learn how to transform, creating the winged flier form that had allowed his Air Warriors to dominate the skies and win. Certainly, transformation had been created during that time, but there was no proof Sunstar was the first. He was just a mortal, a mortal who had vanished one day and abdicated the throne to his daughter Shadowmoon. Perhaps it was because of the silver optics, or his legacy and feats (most of which Shockwave would reluctantly admit were accurate), or the fact that a body had never been found which fueled Vosian belief in him.

They didn't treat Sunstar like a god, Shockwave corrected himself. Of all the city-states, Vosians cared the least about matters of divinity, preferring to advance themselves. Since they didn't have a religion, they didn't see why they should have one or how one religion could be better than another. Religion was something to believe in, something that gave people hope, nothing more.

Perhaps, ironically, their disbelief in gods was the reason why they held so firm to tradition. With the extinction of the royal family, all they had now was Starscream. He almost felt sorry for the Vosians.

Shockwave was broken from his musing when he heard the sound gunshots and screams. Irritably, he tapped on the desk in front of him to get a status report. What he got was a picture of a berserk Sunstorm giving chase to Starscream and three other jets. He stared at the video, confusion making his eye dark as he tried to understand what was going on. Obviously, he'd missed something.

His confusion and vain attempts to get a report distracted him, so it took a moment for Shockwave to realize that something else was happening. The air was humming as if some great machine was charging. It had started too quietly for Shockwave to notice at first, but was slowly reaching a crescendo that buzzed in his audios. It made the metal of his form crawl unexplainably. Had he been an organic, the hair on the back of his neck would be standing.

"What?" Shockwave said in the beginnings of a question.

He never got to finish the question as that moment, the sky turned white. The sensation in the atmosphere was of lightning charging to strike as Sunstorm electrified the atmosphere. In a mighty wave, the lightning cast through the air, hitting everything all at once. Everything above the buildings was instantly reduced to smoldering slag as the higher buildings were scorched black.

Starscream, his experience in Storm Tag paying off, had recognized the sensation for what it was. He had frantically managed to get Coldsnap and the other two below the line of the buildings, which saved them from the most vicious strikes. Other fliers that had been above the city lines had had nothing to divert the most savage of the lightning from them and scraps of their smoldering frames rained down erratically.

Starscream's warning had not given them enough time to seek shelter however, so they were still knocked from the sky. The power grid had not had even the fragment of warning Starscream had. With a sound very much like a shrieking scream, the power grid simply exploded as the relays were overloaded by the wash of lightning. Darkness plunged onto Cybertron as everything – lights, security camera, _and_ the defense grid that kept the Autobots out – simply turned off. Those who held their breath and waited for the backup generators would be waiting for a long time.

Although the initial wave of lightning had ended, it continued to strike almost constantly at the high reaching pillars and spires. Clusters of bolts continued to strike closer to the ground, trying to reach the Transformers below despite being distracted by the metal around them. Their attempts made the very air glow as if each molecule was giving off golden luminescence from within. Although they couldn't see it, the storm was planet-wide and it had made the entire planet glow.

Only Sunstorm was left in the air and he landed almost delicately on the top of a communications tower, looking over Kaon. His optics were a brilliant, uncomprehending white. Somewhere in his spark the other Sunstorm, the one that was scared of touching other Transformers because the curse of his power would hurt them, was screaming to stop. The desperate plea could not be heard though.

Sunstorm, driven by the urgings of Silverwing's virus, raised one hand and the lightning began to circulate overhead around him in a spiral pattern. Radiation lit his frame as the metal of the tower he stood on began to melt. His frame outshone even the seeking lightning, and he and it were the only sources of light.

Shockwave cursed as he failed to use his communicator, the towers and satellites that normally relayed the signal having been fried. He threw the useless communicator against the wall as he ran from his office to put a stop to it. Solarflare had sat up from her station and looked at the window she was near. She stared at the lightning in confusion, thinking that this sounded like a passage from the Autobot's Covenant of Primus that detailed the beginning of the end.

She barely gave the thought a moment of her time before tossing it away and focusing inward, reaching out to her bondmate, Coldsnap. Primus and Unicron were not real, merely figments and legends that were created and embellished. Stories and prophecies about them were equally as fictitious. Unlike with Sunstar, there was no proof they were real.

Coldsnap was aware that Solarflare was reaching out to him, but was not aware enough to respond. He, Starscream, Airwave, and Crosscutter were looking up to where Sunstorm stood, the lightning circulating as if it were alive. It was almost as if Sunstorm was not in control, but it was controlling him. Sunstorm lowered his upturned face towards them slowly.

Without a word spoken between them, the four Air Warriors spread out and primed their rifles. They couldn't flee, couldn't fly, so all that left was to fight. Sunstorm noticed they were going to fight before he killed them. Unlike Dark Frenzy, this version of Sunstorm took no pleasure from the fact he was going to kill. Emotion never entered into his thought. If they did, then he might be able to hear the screams of the other Sunstorm. Lightning skittered across the surface of his frame, hissing in some language he did not know with excitement he did not understand. At a quick motion from him, the lightning surged and flew at the fliers below him.

* * *

Silverwing stood on a mountaintop, looking upward with a sagely expression. His red tattoos were glowing as he used their power to see Cybertron. He was on Earth, having swiftly decapitated the Decepticon watching the spacebridge and made it to neutral territory.

"For Cybertron itself would rebel against the life Primus had seeded it with as the great darkness which slumbered began to stir. And the very air would shine, lighting the way for his Return." Silverwing quoted the line Solarflare had thought of with a mirthful look.

Prophecies, Silverwing thought, were strange things. Who would have thought it would begin because of a virus Silverwing had infected Sunstorm with? As Cybertron was a rogue planet with orbit, its position was ever changing. The lightning had lit it up though, and Silverwing's master could now see it. The way to it had been lit.

Satisfied that he had started his work successfully, Silverwing turned and took off. He transformed and headed to the _Ark_ , letting his vision of Cybertron fade from his optics. Things had begun nicely, but he had a schedule to keep and unless he wanted to lose the power his master had given him, that schedule had to be adhered to.

* * *

Wingstar was lying on the recharging bunk in his room on _Nemesis_ , with his DataPadd in his hands. Skywarp had introduced him to something the humans called anime, and he was currently looking through the different series and genres to get a feel for it. Skywarp liked it, and seemed certain Wingstar would to. He had introduced it to Amethyst and he had liked it, though Darksky hadn't.

As he was looking at the description of an anime called DEATH NOTE, he felt something. It was hard to describe exactly. It was a sort of shift, but in what he wasn't sure. Wingstar sat up without looking at anything in particular, feeling a tingle go down his spine. Something was going on, something important. He narrowed his optics and put his PADD into sleep mode, setting it on his bunk without a second thought. The door to his quarters opened as he left without a moment's hesitation.

 **...**

 **No, this is not going to turn into some corny Prophecy fulfillment thing where everything that must happen magically happens. I just rewatched a bit of _Beast Wars_ and they mentioned the Covenant of Primus. It was written millions of years before that series but did a great job predicting events that would happen. It appealed. I like to have my stories fit in the universe they're designed for.**

 **If you've read the G1 comics then you should know how big a menace Sunstorm is. I'm afraid Silverwing's virus has made him go a little more schizoid then usual.**


End file.
